Facebook gives you two ways to remove your page, and they work very differently

You can either deactivate your Facebook page, which hides it temporarily, or delete it permanently. Deactivation is reversible — you can reactivate within 30 days. Deletion is not. After 30 days, Facebook removes all your posts, photos, messages, and page data from their servers, and you cannot get it back. Choose deactivation if you might want to return later. Choose deletion if you want it gone for good.

The steps differ slightly depending on whether you manage the page on a computer or phone, and whether you are the page owner or just an admin. This guide covers the most common situation: you own the page and want to delete it permanently.

Key Takeaways

  • Deactivation hides your page for 30 days and is reversible; deletion is permanent after 30 days and cannot be undone.
  • You must be the page owner (not just an admin) to delete a page; admins can only deactivate it.
  • Deletion takes up to 90 days to complete, though your page disappears from public view immediately.
  • Before deleting, download your page data if you want to keep any photos, posts, or records.

How to delete your page on a computer

Open Facebook in a web browser and go to your page. Click the Settings button in the top right corner of your page header. From the left menu, scroll down and select General. Scroll to the bottom of the General settings page until you see the option labeled Remove Page. Click it.

Facebook will ask you to confirm. Read the warning carefully — it will tell you that deletion is permanent and that you have 30 days to change your mind. Click Delete Page to proceed. You may be asked to enter your password for security. Once you do, your page is scheduled for deletion. It disappears from public view immediately, but Facebook keeps the data for 30 days in case you change your mind.

How to delete your page on a phone or tablet

Open the Facebook app and navigate to your page. Tap the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) in the bottom right corner. Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy, then tap Settings. Tap Pages, then select your page from the list. Scroll down to find Remove Page and tap it.

Facebook will show you the same permanent deletion warning. Tap Delete Page and enter your password when prompted. Your page will be removed from public view right away. The deletion process completes over the next 30 to 90 days.

What happens if you are an admin but not the owner

If someone else owns the page and you are only an admin, you cannot delete it. You can only deactivate it, which temporarily hides the page but does not remove it. To deactivate, go to Settings, find General, and look for Deactivate Page instead of Remove Page. The page owner can reactivate it at any time.

If you want the page gone permanently and you are not the owner, you need to contact the page owner and ask them to delete it. If the owner is unreachable or the page violates Facebook's rules, you can report it to Facebook through their Help Center, but Facebook will only remove pages that break their community standards.

Download your page data before deleting

Before you delete, consider saving your page information. Go to Settings, click General, and look for Download Your Information. Click it and select the date range you want to download. Facebook will create a file with your posts, photos, comments, and other page data. This can take a few hours or days depending on how much content you have.

Once the file is ready, Facebook will send you a notification. Download it and save it to your computer. This gives you a backup of everything on your page before it is permanently removed. You cannot recover this data after deletion, so this step is worth doing if the page contains anything you might want to reference later.

The 30-day window to change your mind

After you request deletion, you have 30 days to undo it. During this time, your page is not visible to anyone, but the data still exists on Facebook's servers. If you log back in and go to your page, you will see an option to Cancel Deletion. Click it and your page will be restored with all its content intact.

After 30 days, the cancellation option disappears. Facebook then takes another 30 to 90 days to fully remove all traces of your page from their systems. Once that period ends, there is no way to recover it. If you are certain you want to delete, do not log in during the 30-day window, because even viewing your page might tempt you to cancel.

Deactivation as an alternative

If you are not ready to delete permanently, deactivation is a safer choice. Your page becomes invisible to everyone, including people who search for it. Your posts, photos, and messages are hidden. No one can message you or see your page activity. You can reactivate it anytime by logging in and going back to Settings.

Deactivation is useful if you want to step away from managing a page but might return to it later. Many people deactivate pages during busy periods and reactivate them when they have time again. Unlike deletion, deactivation does not destroy your data, so everything returns exactly as it was when you reactivate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone else reactivate my page after I delete it?

No. Only the page owner can delete a page, and only the page owner can cancel the deletion during the 30-day window. Once deletion is complete, no one can recover it. If you share your login information with others, change your password immediately after requesting deletion to prevent them from canceling it.

What happens to messages people sent to my page?

During the 30-day deletion window, messages are hidden but not removed. If you cancel deletion, they reappear. After 30 days, Facebook deletes all messages permanently. People who messaged your page will not see those conversations in their inboxes after your page is gone.

Will my page name become available for someone else to use?

Yes, but not immediately. After your page is fully deleted (30 to 90 days), the page name becomes available for someone else to create a new page with the same name. If you want to reserve a name, do not delete — deactivate instead, which keeps the name tied to your account indefinitely.

Can I delete just some posts instead of the whole page?

Yes. You do not have to delete the entire page. Go to each post, click the three dots in the corner, and select Delete. You can remove individual posts, photos, or comments without removing the page itself. This is useful if you want to keep the page but clean up old content.

How long does it take for my page to disappear from search results?

Your page disappears from Facebook search and public view immediately after you request deletion. However, external search engines like Google may still show your page in their results for a few days or weeks while they update their indexes. You cannot speed this up, but the links will eventually lead to a "page not found" error.