# How do I remove myself from Facebook **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215 "2018-02-20T18:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/1 "2018-02-20T18:06:02Z")
[ul] [li]I signed up years ago when an acquaintance with a mutual hobby-type interest asked me to. I friended a bunch of his friends with the same hobby. I used it for maaaaaybe a week or two. Tops.[/li][li]I really haven’t used it since then (let’s not get into Facebook bashing. It’s something a lot of people enjoy, I just don’t currently need/want it as I’m no longer really interested in that hobby)[/li][li]I realized I’m getting a crapton of “Your friend has updated his profile/uploaded a video/posted a comment” messages that I’ve got autodirected to go straight into my trash email folder. I didn’t realize how MUCH I was getting until recently.[/li][li]I went to Facebook to delete my profile (and here’s the fun part)[/li][li]It said my password wasn’t valid any more and I had to reset it.[/li][li]I reset my password and it then said that I need to confirm my identity and to choose a security check. The only\* option is “Ask your friends for help”.[/li][li]If I choose continue, I’m supposed to pick three people to call or meet with IRL who can give me a code to access my account. I don’t know any of the people listed. [/li][/ul] I’ve been at this for a day or so and even though it’s supposed to give other options (provide date of birth, etc) if you wait “a few hours”, it isn’t. So what now? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/2 "2018-02-20T19:55:34Z")
Unless you need to delete online material that you left behind, just let it go. If you don’t post there, no one is looking at your info. Your profile is just a digital artifact now. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/3 "2018-02-20T20:58:30Z")
And if you don’t want to get the emails (you definitely don’t), go [here](https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=notifications)while logged in to update your preferences. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/4 "2018-02-20T21:08:10Z")
I’m guessing that he can’t actually make any updates to his settings while he’s in identity confirmation limbo. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/5 "2018-02-20T21:48:45Z")
This is correct. I also can’t use their live chat option or change settings or anything else until I get out of the identity confirmation limbo. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BuckChongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@BuckChongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckChongo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/6 "2018-02-22T00:20:19Z")
I did everything possible to delete my old Facebook account, three years later it reappeared in all its glory. Facebook is forever. Punishment for friending my ex… ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/7 "2018-02-22T05:20:05Z")
If jumping through the hoops provided by them isn’t working, you’re done. Facebook will not help you. ---
**Author:** ![Roy\_Batty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Roy\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roy_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/8 "2018-02-23T02:38:30Z")
Fuck Facebook. Glad I’ve never had an account. Years ago, this asshole I knew said that I “had” to have a FB account in order to keep in touch with people. Screw that. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/9 "2018-02-23T02:50:42Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > [list]I went to Facebook to delete my profile (and here’s the fun part) You can’t actually delete you Facebook account. Not anymore. The closest you can come is deactivating it. So basically it’s no different than logging off. I don’t know why they made this change. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/10 "2018-02-23T03:01:08Z")
> [@Roy\_Batty](#): > > Fuck Facebook. Glad I’ve never had an account. > > Years ago, this asshole I knew said that I “had” to have a FB account in order to keep in touch with people. Screw that. **Moderator Note** If you’ve never had an account, you can’t add information of any use to the OP. Let’s stick to the question in the OP. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/11 "2018-02-23T12:27:19Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You can’t actually delete you Facebook account. Not anymore. The closest you can come is deactivating it. So basically it’s no different than logging off. I don’t know why they made this change. One possible reason is to keep people from hijacking an account, then deleting it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/12 "2018-02-23T12:34:19Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You can’t actually delete you Facebook account. Not anymore. The closest you can come is deactivating it. So basically it’s no different than logging off. I don’t know why they made this change. Erm, yes, you can delete it. I did so recently. They obfuscate it so you don’t see the option to do so in your account settings, but searching will get you to the page where you can request deletion. ---
**Author:** ![Roy\_Batty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Roy\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roy_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/13 "2018-03-02T15:27:42Z")
The best way to not have any issues with a Facebook account…is to never get an account in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/14 "2018-03-02T15:43:56Z")
> [@Roy\_Batty](#): > > The best way to not have any issues with a Facebook account…is to never get an account in the first place. **Moderator Warning** **Roy Batty** , I specifically gave you instructions not to do this only a few posts up. You appear to have bumped the thread after a week merely to threadshit again. This is an official warning for failure to follow moderator instructions. Do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/15 "2018-03-03T01:09:08Z")
You can, once a year, change your name and some profile details such as date of birth. So you can change those to something random and unrelated to you, and then delete as much as possible of the content. Particularly pictures of yourself or anything that can be related to you. You will then, fairly effectively, neutralized the Facebook to a non-person. A person using the search field will not find anything under any terms that can be associated with you. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/16 "2018-03-03T06:58:40Z")
Again, Fenris must prove to facebook’s satisfaction that he is who he says he is and the correct owner of the account before he will have access to edit or remove data or delete/deactivate the account. If you don’t have advice or suggestions for passing FB’s identity confirmation process, you do not have helpful advice for Fenris. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/17 "2018-03-03T08:17:44Z")
I haven’t totally deleted my Facebook account, but I deleted the app off my phone and that alleviates me the incessant, “someone you knew thirty years ago posted a picture of their spaghetti,” updates. The straw that broke my camel’s back was a private message chain that some yutz set-up to send a bunch of emoji’s to pretty much every Facebook user who shared my first name. So at first I was getting updates on these stupid emoji’s, then followed by a ton of users replying, “what is this?”, followed by even more users replying, “this is spam, stop replying,” and it all turned into a comedy of viral errors. For days I was getting dozens and dozens of update alerts an hour. Delete. I hate Facebook anyway. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/18 "2018-03-03T10:09:40Z")
**Fenris** , this is probably a dumb question (since you’ve likely already tried this), but is there a way for you to access FB with the same device or location you used when you originally signed up, or whenever you were briefly using it? FB not recognizing your current device or location can be a trigger for that stupid “recognize friends” security barrier. Or, related: When you wait “a few hours” as they suggest, can you use a different device to do so, OR clear your browser cookies for Facebook? Maybe if they see you differently, so to speak, it’ll refresh the login security options. Just stabbing in the dark here. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/19 "2018-03-03T10:43:50Z")
try try installing a password manager. I did that once and the first thing it did was find all of my accounts and asked me if I wanted to I have access to them. It was able to find passwords to Websites that I haven’t used in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215/20 "2018-03-03T16:51:10Z")
> [@Roy\_Batty](#): > > Fuck Facebook. Glad I’ve never had an account. > > Years ago, this asshole I knew said that I “had” to have a FB account in order to keep in touch with people. Screw that. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I haven’t totally deleted my Facebook account, > > … > > I hate Facebook anyway. **Moderator Warning** You said previously that you never had a Facebook account, and now you say you had one. One way or another you are posting false information. This is an additional warning for trolling and for failure to follow moderator instructions. I am further instructing you not to post again in this thread. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-remove-myself-from-facebook/809215.md?page=2)