How to Delete Facebook on iPhone

Many of us have a contentious relationship with Facebook. It's a way to stay connected with friends and family, but it's often a source of unreliable fake news, is subject to data hacks and privacy concerns, and can be a floodgate of anxiety for many people. If you've had enough, just pull the plug: Here's how to delete your Facebook account on iPhone to finally be completely done with the service.

The Difference Between Deleting and Deactivating Facebook

While it's not difficult to delete your Facebook account, it's not your only choice. Facebook gives you the option of deleting or deactivating your account. Here's the difference:

• Deactivating Facebook. If you want to take a break from Facebook, you can deactivate the account. All your posts and photos will go offline and won't be available to other people (though messages will remain visible). If you reactivate your account, all this information will reappear. 
• Deleting Facebook. More than simply deleting the app from your phone (which has no effect on your Facebook account, and you can still use Facebook on your computer, in a browser, and elsewhere), deleting your account permanently and irrevocably erases everything about your account, including posts, photos, and messages. (If you prefer, you can also delete your Facebook account in a browser on your computer.) Because this is permanent, Facebook waits 30 days in case you change your mind, but after that, you'll need to create a new account if you want to return to Facebook. 

What to Do Before You Delete Your Facebook Account

If you are intent on deleting your Facebook account, there are a couple of things you might want to do before you pull the plug once and for all. Specifically, you might want to save a copy of your personal data, which includes posts and photos. Perhaps more importantly, you should disconnect any other apps, websites, and services that use your Facebook credentials to log in.

Making a copy of your personal data is easy; you'll see the option to do this as a part of deleting your account (see below for details).

You can disconnect Facebook from other sites and services using the Facebook mobile app or using Facebook in the Safari browser. 

Disconnect Your Apps Using the Facebook App

Before you delete your Facebook account on iPhone, you'll want to make sure that any apps you've used Facebook to log into have their usernames and passwords reset.

1. Start the Facebook app on your iPhone and tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom right of the screen. You'll see Facebook's menu appear. 

2. Tap Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings. 

3. In the Security section, tap Apps and Websites.

   

4. At the top of the Apps and Websites page, tap Logged in with Facebook.

5. On the Active tab, select every app and site in the list, then tap Remove. If you actively use any of these sites, be sure to visit them and change the way you log in, such as using email and password.

   

Disconnect Your Apps Using the Safari Browser on the iPhone

If you've already deleted the Facebook app from your iPhone, you can still disconnect any Facebook-connected apps using the Safari web browser.

1. Open Facebook in Safari and then tap the three horizontal lines at the top right of the browser. Scroll down and tap Settings.

2. In the Security section, tap Apps and Websites. 

3. At the top of the page, to the right of Logged in with Facebook, tap Edit.

   

4. On the Active tab, select every app and site in the list, then tap Remove. If you actively use any of these sites, be sure to visit them and change the way you log in, such as using email and password. 

How to Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account in the iPhone App

Once you've disconnected your apps and downloaded any data you want to save, then you can permanently delete your Facebook account using the Facebook app for iPhone.

1. Start the Facebook app on your iPhone and tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom right of the screen. You'll see Facebook's menu appear. 

2. Tap Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings. 

3. Tap Account Ownership and Control. 

4. On the Account Ownership and Control page, tap Deactivation and Deletion.

   

5. Tap Delete Account and then tap Continue to Account Deletion. 

6. The Account Deletion page is a little crowded. Ignore the first option to deactivate your account, but you might want to take advantage of the other options on the page to save your posts or download a copy of your personal information. When you have saved any personal information you care to keep, tap Delete Account and confirm you want to do this.

   

7. If you decide within 30 days that you want to recover your account and continue using it, restart the Facebook app and log in to stop the deletion. 

How to Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account Using the Safari Browser 

You don't have to use the Facebook app on iPhone to delete your Facebook account. You can also do it from Safari.

1. Open Facebook in Safari and then tap the three horizontal lines at the top right of the browser. Scroll down and tap Settings.

2. In the Your Facebook Information section, tap Account Ownership and Control. 

3. On the Account Ownership and Control page, tap Deactivation and Deletion.

4. Tap Delete Account and then tap Continue to Account Deletion. 

5. Before you delete your account, you might want to take advantage of the other options on the page to save your posts or download a copy of your personal information. When you have saved any personal information you care to keep, tap Delete Account and confirm you want to do this. 

   

6. If you decide within 30 days that you want to recover your account and continue using it, restart the Facebook app and log in to stop the deletion.