While for some Facebook is still a good social network, despite its ups and downs, for others it is just the opposite. Therefore, there are always those who consider deleting their Facebook profile. Although, perhaps, for now you are interested in just deactivating the Facebook account . Yes, one or the other action is not the same. So we are going to see the differences between both actions so that you choose correctly.
Facebook: Deactivate vs Delete
Long ago, deactivating or deleting a Facebook profile was a somewhat complex task. Not impossible, but she was crazy about 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 kind of temporary measure. That is, you suspend or stop the account so that no one within the platform or outside it can search or see data such as those published in your biography. Although other data such as messages you have left in some publications may still be present.
Deleting a Facebook account is a more drastic measure since once done you will not be able to recover any of the data such as photographs, messages, etc., that you may have published on the social network. This is true that it is a process that takes a few days to apply, up to 14 days to be eliminated and 90 days for the complete deletion of the database.
However, deleting an account does not ensure that everything you have been able to publish is deleted. Because, as Facebook indicates, there is data such as messages that are also stored in other accounts. What they do say is that if these remain what is removed is any trace that may indicate that it is yours.
How to deactivate a Facebook account
If your intention is only to deactivate the account, in case you ever want to use the social network again, the steps you have to follow are the following:
- Enter your Facebook account and access the settings
- In the next window, click on Your Facebook information
- Now give the option to Delete your account and your information
- You will see two options, Download information if you want to keep photos and publications locally and the 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 in 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 erase all your information within the platform. The steps you have to carry out are the following:
- Enter your Facebook account and access the settings
- In the next window, click on Your Facebook information
- Now give the option to Delete your account and your information
- Now, in addition to the options of Deactivate and Download information, 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 accessible the button that permanently deletes your account.
After clicking, 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 have been able to change your mind. If not, goodbye Facebook, goodbye Mark Zuckerberg.
This process can also be done from mobile applications. The only thing you have to know is that you will first have to tap on Settings and privacy so that a menu with more options is displayed and among which you will find the previous one of Settings that will already give you access to everything seen before.
Backup 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 do not care about the publications and you only want to keep photos and videos uploaded, you can download only those files. To do this, do the following:
- Access Facebook from your computer
- Go to the Settings option and then to Your Facebook information
- Click on Download your information and uncheck all the options that don’t interest you
When the file creation process is complete you will receive a link that will be active only for a few days. So don’t delay and download it fast. Then you can go back to the previous processes to permanently deactivate or delete your account.
