How to Delete Facebook Without Losing Your Data

Deleting your Facebook account can be an important step toward reclaiming your online privacy and reducing digital clutter.

While privacy concerns are legitimate, it is possible to avoid handing over your data to third-party apps and locking down your profile. But if you don’t trust Facebook itself with your personal data, you may question your decision to continue handing it over.

Still, the fear of losing years of photos, messages, and posts can be daunting. Luckily, Facebook offers ways to download your data before deleting your account. Here’s a step-by-step guide to make sure you don’t lose your precious memories when you decide to say goodbye to Facebook.

How to download Facebook data

If you want to keep your Facebook account information and data before you delete it, you can download the entire account as an archive to your computer. Facebook can download posts, photos, and videos you’ve shared, your messages and chat conversations, information from the “About” section of your profile, and more.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to Facebook and log in with your username and password.
2. Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of the page.
3. Select “Settings and privacy” then “Settings”.
4. In the left menu, click on “Your information”.
5. Click on “Download your information”.
6. You’ll see a list of all the data types you can download. This includes posts, photos, videos, comments, likes, and more.
7. You can select the specific data you want or choose to download everything. Make sure to select the appropriate date range, format (HTML or JSON), and media quality.
8. Once you have made your selections, click on “Create Files”.
9. Facebook will start creating a file with your data. This process may take some time, depending on how much information you have.
10. Facebook will notify you when your file is ready to download. You can access this from the “Available Files” tab on the “Download Your Information” page.
11. Click “Download” and save the file to your computer or an external storage device.

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

After downloading your data, review the files to make sure all important information is included. This is essential because once your account is deleted, you will no longer have access to Facebook’s data recovery options.

How to permanently delete Facebook

If you’re ready to permanently delete your account, follow these steps:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings” > “Your Information”.
2. Click on “Deactivation and deletion”.
3. Select “Delete Account” and click “Continue to Account Deletion”.
4. Enter your password and follow the on-screen instructions.

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Please note that permanently deleting your Facebook account is irreversible. Temporarily deactivating your Facebook account may be a better solution if you are not sure you will never want to return to Facebook.

How to temporarily deactivate Facebook

By temporarily deactivating your Facebook account, you won’t lose any of your data, such as your contacts and photos. To deactivate your account:

1. Go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings” > “Your Information”.
2. Click on “Deactivation and deletion”.
3. Select “Deactivate Account” and follow the on-screen instructions.

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

Artur Tomala / Foundry

If you decide to delete your Facebook account, it will be permanently deleted after 30 days. During this period, you can log in to cancel the deletion if you change your mind.

After 30 days, the account and all its data will be permanently deleted from Facebook servers.