Delete Facebook the right way

Learn how to delete or deactivate your Facebook account and the steps to protect yourself before you do.

Patrick Holland Managing Editor

As Managing Editor, I lead CNET's mobile team, covering news and reviews on smartphones, wireless carriers, AI, wearables and more. I oversee the team's product testing and translate our findings into accessible recommendations. With nearly a decade of experience at CNET, I've covered Apple and the iPhone, Google and the Pixel, Samsung and the Galaxy, Motorola and the Razr, iOS vs. Android and much more. I'm passionate about storytelling (hey, former theater director and playwright here).

Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.

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Patrick Holland

July 28, 2019 5:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

There are numerous reasons to delete or deactivate your Facebook account. You might be concerned about how the social networking site compromised and exposed the private data from millions of its users. Or you might be upset with the inadvertent role Facebook played spreading false information from foreign governments about US candidates in the 2016 presidential election. Or you could simply just want to stop yourself from mindlessly scrolling through your feed whenever you have spare time.

Whatever your reason for deleting, if you want to walk away from Facebook, we're here to help with all of the settings. As part of CNET's new How To Do It All YouTube channel, we show you how to permanently delete your account and walk you through other options like deactivation in case you can't bring yourself to permanently part ways. We even show you how to find settings to save everything you've ever posted (photos, videos, comments) and find all the ad data Facebook has on you.

Take a look at our How To Delete Facebook video at the top of the story.