Ready to permanently delete your Facebook account from your phone? Whether you’re using an iPhone or Android, this guide walks you through every step to delete Facebook for good in 2026 — plus what you should do before hitting that delete button.
Before You Delete: Download Your Facebook Data
Once you delete your account, everything is gone permanently after 30 days. Before you proceed, download a copy of your data:
- Open the Facebook app and go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Tap Privacy > Your Facebook Information
- Tap Download your information
- Select what you want to download (photos, posts, messages, etc.)
- Choose format (HTML is easiest to view) and tap Create file
- Facebook will notify you when your download is ready
How to Delete Facebook Account on iPhone
Follow these steps to permanently delete Facebook from your iPhone:
- Open the Facebook app
- Tap the menu icon (three lines) in the bottom right
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Tap Personal and account information
- Tap Account ownership and control
- Tap Deactivation and deletion
- Select Delete account (not deactivate)
- Tap Continue to account deletion
- Enter your password and tap Continue
- Tap Delete account to confirm
After confirming, Facebook gives you a 30-day grace period. During this time, you can cancel the deletion by logging back in. After 30 days, deletion is permanent and irreversible.
How to Delete Facebook Account on Android Phone
The steps on Android are almost identical:
- Open the Facebook app
- Tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top right
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Tap Personal and account information
- Tap Account ownership and control
- Tap Deactivation and deletion
- Select Delete account and follow the prompts
What Gets Deleted When You Delete Facebook?
When your account is permanently deleted, Facebook removes:
- Your profile, photos and videos
- All your posts, comments and reactions
- Your friends list and connections
- Your Messenger conversations (from your side)
- Facebook Login access to third-party apps
- Your Facebook Pages (if you’re the sole admin)
Messages you’ve sent to others will remain visible on their end, but your name will appear as “Facebook User” instead.
Delete Facebook but Keep Messenger?
Unfortunately, you cannot keep Messenger if you delete your Facebook account. Messenger requires a Facebook account to function. If you want to keep messaging, consider deactivating instead of deleting — deactivation lets you keep Messenger while hiding your profile.
How to Delete Facebook from Phone Without the App
If you’ve already uninstalled the Facebook app, you can still delete your account using your phone’s web browser:
- Open Safari, Chrome or any browser on your phone
- Go to facebook.com and log in
- Tap your profile picture > Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Navigate to Deactivation and deletion
- Select Delete account and follow the steps
Important: Simply uninstalling the Facebook app does NOT delete your account. Your profile remains active until you formally delete it through the settings.
What If You Change Your Mind?
During the 30-day grace period, simply log back into Facebook to cancel the deletion. Your account will be fully restored with all data intact.
After 30 days, there is no way to recover a deleted account. Facebook does not keep backups and cannot restore permanently deleted accounts.
Need help with your account? Visit our complete guide to contacting Facebook UK support or browse our directory of 100+ Facebook contact forms.