Facebook’s apologies are no longer acceptable for many of you. No matter how you use Facebook to stay in touch with your friends and family, you can’t afford to place your trust in Facebook with your data. Facebook has let fake news persist, it’s a place of hate, and it let companies mine your personal information without your consent. There are countless other ways to keep up with friends and family, which is why you’ve come here to learn how to permanently delete your Facebook account.
Deleting is different than deactivating.
Facebook gives you two options for removing yourself from the platform. One is deactivating, which saves your information and allows you to return anytime you want. It simply removes your account from being searchable and removes your timeline.
Deleting your account is the second option which actually removes your information permanently. There are some caveats: Facebook doesn’t instantly delete your account – it gives you a few days. If you log back into Facebook after you delete your account, it reactivates your account. If you don’t log in, it can take up to 90 days to completely wipe your information. I find this practice to be a bit shady too as Facebook will try to lure you back in with text messages to your phone.
If you want to delete your account, you need to make a request directly to Facebook. Facebook doesn’t make anything easy when it doesn’t get its way, so be persistent and make sure your account wishes are known.