How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account [5 Easy Steps]

Have you ever scrolled down on Facebook for 45 minutes straight without realizing you were actually doing it? We hate to break it to you, but maybe it’s time you took a little break.

Did you know that you can deactivate your account on Facebook and still keep all the settings, photos, and other records intact? So, when you feel like you need to be back on social media, it will be like you never left.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the simple process of how to deactivate Facebook.

Deactivate or Delete Facebook: What Is the Difference?

Most of us spend a lot of time on social media, some even to a point where we know the perfect time to post something on various social media platforms. But what if you get tired of being glued to a device all the time?

If you’ve decided that your time on social media causes you to miss out on real life, you may consider deactivating or even deleting your Facebook account. What’s the difference between these two options?

The biggest difference is that when you decide to deactivate a FB account, you still have the option of reactivating it later on. All the information Facebook has about you is saved in case you choose to come back to the platform. While, when you decide to delete your Facebook account, after 30 days, every bit of info gets permanently deleted. It’s gone forever, and there is no option to restore your account.

How to Deactivate Facebook Accounts: Steps to Follow

While it may prove beneficial for you, the scariest part of deactivating Facebook is deciding when the timing is right. After that, it’s pretty easy – just follow the steps below.

To deactivate Facebook, you’ll need to first click on the dropdown menu on your screen’s right-top corner, or the three-line menu icon.

• Click on “Settings”

• Click on “Your Facebook Information”

• Click on “Deactivation and Deletion”

• Click on “Deactivate Your Account”

• Click on “Continue to Account Deactivation”

What Will Happen if You Deactivate Your Facebook Account?

When you deactivate your Facebook account, Facebook will hide all your data – photos, posts, shares, comments, etc. Also, if you are an admin of a group, the group will also be instantly deactivated along with your account.

That said, you can reactivate Facebook anytime you want. While you need to follow several steps to turn off Facebook, just one step is more than enough to get you back on the platform. Just log in to your account, wait for the code either on your email or phone, and you are back on the platform.

Easy, right?

Key Takeaways

The Pros and Cons of Facebook Account Deactivation 

Taking a break from Facebook may have a lot of benefits but it can also cause you to miss a lot of stuff and even feel left out when you are out with friends. That’s why we decided to weigh the main pros and cons that come with choosing to deactivate a Facebook account.

Pros

• you’ll become more productive without the distractions of checking Facebook every few hours
• you’ll have more time for other areas of your life
• studies show that taking a break from Facebook can result in significant improvement in your well-being
• this will encourage you to communicate with your friends more personally, i.e. give them a call or meet

Cons

• it’s hard to keep up with the latest trends
• you may feel lonesome at first without seeing what your friends are doing on a regular basis
• if you have a business and you were promoting it on Facebook, you could lose all the traffic and new clients

Additional Information

If you go through the steps to deactivate your Facebook account, then you certainly need to know what remains visible and what will be hidden. The only thing that will remain visible will be the messages you’ve sent to your friends. Everything else, from your photos to your timeline will be temporarily hidden until you decide to reactivate the account. Normally, there are ways others can find you on social media through your email address or through the popular people-finder engines, but that’s not the case here. People won’t be able to see your profile or even find your account in a search.

Conclusion

If you read this article, you were probably already thinking of deactivating Facebook. And now you definitely learned how to do it. Remember, you can easily take a break from Facebook if that’s your choice. Just follow the step-by-step instructions, and you’ll be ready to start the new chapter of your life where Facebook is not invited.