Facebook can be a very useful tool for staying in touch with friends and family, but for many, the actual experience has come down to constant advertisements, unending game requests, and numerous quizzes about which Game of Thrones character you are. If you aren’t finding Facebook to be particularly useful or interesting anymore, Facebook has made it quite easy to permanently delete your account. Of course, if that is a little extreme and you just want to take a short break, you also have the option to temporarily deactivate it.

With that in mind, here is a look at how to deactivate or permanently delete your Facebook account.

Deactivate your Facebook account

If you don’t want to permanently delete your account, but just want to take a break, you also have the option to temporarily deactivate your account. Deactivation is immediate, and you can also reactivate the account whenever you want, without losing any data that is connected to your profile.

• Click on the downward arrow, and go to the Settings menu.
• Click on Security, found in the menu on the left side.
• Click on Edit in the “Deactivate your account” section, and follow the steps.

Backup/save your data

Over the years, there may be a wealth of information that is associated with your Facebook account, and if you are looking to permanently delete it, you may want to save this data. Everything from your photos, contact information, messages, and posts you’ve shared can be saved, and you can also get access to info like ads you’ve clicked on, and more. If there isn’t a lot, you can manually save text or download photos, but if you want to download it all, here’s how to do so.

• After logging into your Facebook account, open the Settings page by clicking on the small down arrow button found at the top right corner of the page, and clicking on “settings.”
• In the “General account settings” page, look for and click on the “Download a copy of your Facebook data.”
• Click on the “Start my archive” button. You will have to re-enter your password, and then click on the button again. Once the archive is ready to be downloaded, you will get a notification and download link via email. Keep in mind that depending on how much information is going to be archived, it may take a few hours for you to receive the email.
• Once you get the email, click the link, and on the page that opens, click on “Download archive.”

Deleting your Facebook account

Facebook makes it a lot easier to log in to certain websites and apps, with them using your Facebook info to create an account on these sites, instead of filling out a form once again. If you are looking to permanently delete your Facebook account, you will first have to make sure that you remove these links to your Facebook. Of course, if you are planning to continue using these apps and sites, make sure that you have alternate login information set up for those as well.

• Go to the Settings page, and click on “Apps” found on the navigation menu on the left side. There, you will see all the apps, websites, and services that are linked to your Facebook account.
• When you hover on one of these apps, an edit button and remove button shows up. Click on the Remove button, confirm that you want to delete access to the app and click on Confirm.
• You will have to to do this manually for all the apps and services on this list.

Once you have backed up your data and removed all the third-party applications and services, you are now ready to permanently delete your Facebook account.

• In the drop down, click on Help and search for “Delete account,” or you can directly go to the page here. Click on “Delete my account” and confirm.
• Once done, you will now have 14 days until the account is permanently deleted. If you are having second thoughts, this is the time that you have to reactivate your account.