As someone who has grown tired of Facebook’s constant notifications and drain on my time, I decided I wanted to take a break and deactivate my account. I have an iPhone, so deactivating my Facebook account directly from the app was simple enough. In this guide, I’ll walk through the step-by-step process I followed to deactivate my Facebook account right from the Facebook app on my iPhone.
While deactivating your account is reversible if you later choose to reactivate it, it does hide your profile and information in the meantime. If a more permanent removal is what you’re after, deletion may be a better option, but deactivation allows you to take a break while maintaining the ability to restore your account.
How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account on an iPhone
- Open the Facebook app on your iPhone.
- Tap the three horizontal lines menu icon in the bottom right corner.
- Scroll down and tap “Settings & Privacy”.
- Tap “Settings”.
- Scroll down and tap “Account Ownership and Control”.
- Tap “Deactivation and Deletion”.
- Tap “Deactivate Account”.
- Select “Continue to Account Deactivation”.
- Enter your password when prompted and select a reason for deactivating.
- Tap “Deactivate”.
Your Facebook account is now deactivated. Your profile and information will be hidden until you log back in to reactivate your account.
Keep in mind that deactivating is temporary – if you want to permanently delete the account, select “Delete Account” in step 7 instead. Also note that deactivating your Facebook account does not deactivate Messenger. You’ll need to deactivate Messenger separately if desired.