While some still consider Facebook a good social network, despite its ups and downs, others feel quite the opposite. That's why some people consider deleting their Facebook profile. However, you might be only interested in deactivating your Facebook account for now . Yes, these two actions are not the same. So let's look at the differences between them so you can choose wisely.
Facebook: deactivate vs delete
Long ago, deactivating or deleting a Facebook profile was a somewhat complex task. Not impossible, but confusing because of how the social network showed the options. Luckily, all that changed and now it is easier to carry out the action you have in mind. Although first you have to know what each of them does.
Deactivating a Facebook account is a temporary measure. It means you suspend or stop the account so that no one, either on or off the platform, can search for or view information like what's posted on your timeline. However, other data, such as messages you've left on posts, may still be accessible.
Deleting a Facebook account is a more drastic measure, as once done, you won't be able to recover any of the data, such as photos, messages, etc., that you may have posted on the social network. This process does take a few days to complete, up to 14 days for the account to be deleted and 90 days for the complete erasure of the database.
However, deleting an account does not ensure that everything you may have posted will be deleted. Because, as Facebook indicates, there is data such as messages that is also stored in other accounts. What they do say is that if they remain, what is eliminated is any trace that could indicate that it is yours.
How to deactivate a Facebook account
If your intention is only to deactivate the account, in case at any time you want to use the social network again, the steps you have to follow are the following:
- Log in to your Facebook account and go to settings
- In the next window, click on Your Facebook information
- Now give the option of Delete your account and your information
- You will see two options, Download information if you want to keep photos and publications locally and the one of Deactivate account
- When you press you will see that a questionnaire appears to indicate reasons and details, also to stop receiving emails and the option to confirm the Deactivate
To prevent you from doing this, Facebook will always give you an alternative option, if you are clear about what you want to do, click Close on the windows that appear and continue the process.
How to delete a Facebook account
To permanently delete the Facebook account, the process is very similar, the difference will be in the final result that will delete all your information within the platform. The steps you have to perform are the following:
- Log in to your Facebook account and go to settings
- In the next window, click on Your Facebook information
- Now give the option of Delete your account and your information
- Now, in addition to the Deactivate and Download information options, at the bottom you will see the button to Delete account. press it
- To avoid wrong action, Facebook will ask you to confirm your identity with your password. Now you will have access to the button that permanently deletes your account.
After pressing you will receive a last message indicating that the account will be deleted after 30 days. If during that period you start again, the process will stop when Facebook thinks that you could have changed your mind. If not, bye-bye Facebook, bye-bye Mark Zuckerberg.
This process can also be done from the mobile apps. All you need to know is that you'll first have to tap on Settings and Privacy to open a menu with more options, including the Settings option, which will give you access to everything mentioned above.
Backup of your content on Facebook
If you are going to delete your account or if you are going to deactivate it without knowing if you will recover it or not, you may want to make a copy of your data locally. A simple process like the previous ones, but with an interesting point: you can select what to keep.
That is, if you don't care about the publications and you only want to keep uploaded photos and videos, you can download only those files. To do this do the following:
- Access Facebook from your computer
- Go to the option Configuration and then to Your Facebook information
- give to Download your information and uncheck all the options that do not interest you
When the file creation process is complete you will receive a link that will only be active for a few days. So don't delay and download it fast. Then you can go back to the previous processes to deactivate or delete your account permanently.