Facebook was for many years, it was the most popular social network in the world… even, it still is, but its impact has diminished in the daily lives of young people with the emergence of Instagram and recently TikTok.

Added to that, it has also been through many scandals about handling user data for political purposes.

That is why it is not unreasonable that there are users who want to delete their accounts from the social network created by Mark Zuckerberg.

If you have that interest in your head, then keep reading that you will discover certain actions that you must do before deleting an account on Facebook.

Previous actions to delete an account on Facebook

Deleting your Facebook account can be very easy (later we will explain step by step), but this time we will focus on explaining the things you must do before deleting your Facebook account, to avoid any data stored on that platform.

Delete the app from your mobile device

Generally, Facebook is an application in which you log in and never want to close, which means that the platform is constantly updated on your mobile device.

Therefore, the first step you must do is to log out of the application, delete the cookies from the platform (within the settings of the mobile device) and then delete the application from your smartphone.

Disconnect your Facebook account from other applications

One of the successes that Facebook has had over the years is its synchronization with other external applications. So if you want to remove your Facebook trail specifically, you need to disable that access with other apps.

For that you must:

Sign in to Facebook.
Go to Settings > Apps & Websites.
If you’re having trouble figuring out how to unlink your

Facebook account from service, contact the company’s customer service department for help.

Once done, request and download a copy of all your Facebook data by following these steps :

Sign in to Facebook on your computer.
Go to Settings > your Facebook information.
Click View next to Download your information.
Leave all boxes checked in the Your Information section.
Leave the date range in All my data.
Leave the format set to HTML: Doing so puts your data in an easy-to-navigate format.
To save high-resolution copies of photos and videos you’ve posted to Facebook, change the Media Quality drop-down menu from Medium to High.
Finally, click Create Archive. Facebook will collect all your information and send you an email when it’s ready to be downloaded. It may take some time for this to happen, it is not an instant process.

And with these previous steps, you can delete your Facebook account

How do I delete my Facebook account?

The step by step is as follows:

From your main profile, click Account in the top right of Facebook.
Select Settings & Privacy and click Settings.
Click Your Facebook Information in the left column. If you have Facebook access to a Page in the new Page experience, click Privacy, then click Your Facebook Information.
Click Deactivation and removal.
Select Delete account, and then click Continue with account deletion.
Click Delete account, enter your password and then click Continue.

Can I cancel the deletion of my account?

If it’s been less than 30 days since you started the deletion process, you can cancel it. Once this period has elapsed, your account and all your information will be permanently deleted, and you will not be able to recover them.

It may take up to 90 days from the start of the removal process for all posted content to be removed. While we remove that information, it will not be available to other Facebook users.

After 90 days, copies of your information may be kept in backup storage that we use for recovery in the event of a disaster, software error, or other data loss event. We may also retain your information to address legal issues, Terms violations, or harm prevention initiatives. Learn more about our Data Policy.