How I Deleted My Facebook Account

Yep, I really did it. And here’s how you can too—

First, What Does “Delete” Even Mean?

Let me explain it.

There are two options when it comes to “leaving” Facebook:

Option	What It Means
Deactivate	You’re hitting pause. People won’t see your profile, but Facebook keeps your stuff just in case you want to come back.
Delete	You’re pulling the plug. Forever. Everything goes bye-bye. Photos, posts, messages—gone.

✅ I went with delete because I was done.
But if you just want a break, go ahead and deactivate instead.

Here’s What I Did Before Deleting

Deleting means your stuff disappears. Like, forever disappears. So before I hit the big red button, I did a few things first:

• ✅ I made sure I remembered my password
• 📱 I logged in from my phone just to check it still worked
• 💾 And I saved any photos or posts I didn’t want to lose

Step 1: I Downloaded My Data (Just in Case)

I had photos on there I hadn’t seen in years. Some with people I don’t even talk to anymore… but I wasn’t ready to let those go. So I downloaded everything.

Here’s how I did it:

1. I went to facebook.com/settings
2. Clicked “Your Facebook Information”
3. Then hit “Download Your Information”

4. I picked what I wanted to save (mostly photos and posts)
5. Clicked “Create File”
6. Waited a bit… then Facebook let me download a zip file of all my stuff

Step 2: I Went to the Delete Page

You can’t just click “delete” from the homepage—it’s hidden, because of course it is.

I went to this special link:
➡️ facebook.com/help/delete_account

It took me straight to the “Delete or Deactivate” page.

Step 3: I Clicked Delete (Not Deactivate)

Facebook gave me two big buttons:

• Deactivate = “Hey, just chill for a bit”
• Delete = “See ya forever”

I clicked Delete Account.

Step 4: I Entered My Password and Said Goodbye

After I clicked delete, Facebook asked:

• “Are you sure you want to do this?”
• “Do you want to download your info?”
• “Do you want to keep Messenger?”

I said yes to all the things. I was sure.

I typed in my password, clicked Continue, and then clicked Delete Account one last time.

What Happened After I Deleted?

I found out Facebook doesn’t delete you right away.

What Facebook Does	How Long It Takes
Gives you time to cancel	30 days
Deletes your account for good	After those 30 days

So yeah—you have 30 days to change your mind. But after that, there’s no going back. It’s toast.

What I Did On My Phone (It’s Almost the Same)

If you’re using your phone, don’t worry. I tried it there too just to see.

On the Facebook app:

1. I tapped the ☰ three lines (bottom right on iPhone)
2. Scrolled to Settings & Privacy
3. Hit Settings
4. Then tapped Access and Control
5. Selected Deactivation and Deletion
6. Picked Delete Account
7. Followed the steps like on desktop

Here’s what that looked like:

Here’s a Quick Recap

Step	What I Did
1	Saved my photos & posts (downloaded my info)
2	Went to facebook.com/help/delete_account
3	Clicked Delete Account
4	Typed in my password, confirmed everything
5	Got 30 days to cancel (I didn’t)

Want to See It As a Flowchart?

A[Do you want to leave Facebook?] --> B{Take a Break or Leave Forever?}
B -->|Break| C[Deactivate]
B -->|Forever| D[Delete Account]
D --> E[Download Your Info]
E --> F[Click Delete]
F --> G[You're outta there! (You’ve got 30 days to cancel)]

Stuff I Learned

• ❌ Messenger also disappears when you delete Facebook
• 🚫 You can’t use apps you signed into with Facebook anymore (like games or Spotify)
• 🔁 You can’t reuse the same email for a new account unless you wait till it’s fully deleted

Final Thoughts

I’m not gonna lie—it felt weird clicking delete. Like I was saying goodbye to this giant part of my past.

But also? It felt good. Clean. Quiet.

If you’re thinking about doing it too, I hope this guide helped.

and see you again — sahadat.