How to Delete a Facebook Business Page (or Unpublish It Instead)

How to Delete Facebook Page Profiles: What Are the Steps?

Here is how to delete Facebook Page profiles in 2026: switch into the Page, open Settings & privacy > Settings > Access and control, select Delete Page and click Continue. You need Facebook access with full control. Meta deactivates the Page immediately and permanently deletes it after 14 days.

Knowing how to delete a Facebook Page is useful, but deletion is the last of three options. If you only want the Page out of public view for a while, unpublishing or deactivating it is usually the better choice, and both are covered below. Every menu path in this guide comes from Meta’s own Help Center, which you can open from the links in each step.

Key Takeaways

• In the current Pages experience, the Delete Page option lives under Settings & privacy > Settings > Access and control, not under the old “General > Remove Page” menu.
• Only people with Facebook access with full control can delete a Facebook Page or deactivate it. Task access and Community Manager access are not enough.
• Meta deactivates a deleted Page straight away and removes it for good after 14 days. You can cancel within that window.
• Reactivation works only from your personal profile, never from the Page’s own settings.
• Download a copy of the Page first. The download link expires after four days.

Step 1: Choose Between Unpublishing, Deactivating and Deleting

Choose to delete a Facebook Page only if you never want the Page, its name, its followers or its content back. If there is any chance you will reuse it, unpublish or deactivate instead, because both are fully reversible.

Meta’s Help Center describes the three options separately. Unpublishing a Page hides it from the public while people with access can keep editing it. Deactivating a Page hides it from everyone, including followers, and freezes editing. Deleting a Page removes it permanently once the 14-day window ends.

A quick rule: rebranding or pausing a business? Unpublish. Closing a location for an unknown period? Deactivate. Shutting the business down, removing a duplicate, or cleaning up a test Page? Delete. If the real problem is the name, our guide on how to change a Facebook Page name may solve it without losing your followers.

Step 2: Check Your Access and Back Up the Page

Before you delete a Facebook Page, confirm you have Facebook access with full control and download a copy of everything on the Page. Both take a few minutes and prevent the two most common problems: a missing Delete option and lost content.

Confirm your access level

Meta’s Page roles are now access types: Facebook access (with or without full control), task access and Community Manager access, as listed in Meta’s article on managing Page access. Meta notes that you need to switch into your Page to manage Page access. If someone else owns the Page, ask them to give you full control, or ask them to delete it. Our walkthrough on how to add an admin to a Facebook Page shows the exact screens they will use.

Pre-deletion checklist

• Download your information. Per Meta’s guide to downloading a copy of your Page: switch into the Page, click the Page photo, go to Settings and privacy > Settings > Download your information, choose format, media quality, date range and categories, then click Request a download. The link to your file expires after four days.
• Stop or move your ads. Turn off active campaigns in Ads Manager first so nothing keeps running against a Page that is about to disappear.
• Check Meta Business Suite. If the Page sits inside a business portfolio, review who else has access and whether the portfolio still needs the Page.
• Tell your audience. Post a short note with your website or new Page link a few days before you delete.
• Update links elsewhere. Remove the Page link from your website footer, email signature and other profiles.

Ad accounts are often the messiest part of a Page clean-up, especially when several people or agencies have run campaigns over the years. If you want a second pair of eyes on campaigns, pixels and audiences before you remove a Page, our Meta Ads management service covers that kind of account audit.

Step 3: How to Delete Facebook Page on a Computer

On a computer, you delete a Facebook Page from inside the Page itself: switch into it, open its settings and use Access and control. These are the steps from Meta’s “Delete or cancel deletion of your Facebook Page” article.

1. Log in to Facebook and click your profile photo in the top right.
2. Click See all profiles, then select the Page you want to delete.
3. Click the Page’s photo in the top right.
4. Click Settings & privacy, then Settings.
5. In the left menu, click Access and control.
6. Select Delete Page, then click Continue.
7. Follow the on-screen steps. You may be asked to re-enter your password.

If you searched for how to delete Facebook business Page settings specifically, these are the same steps. Facebook treats a business Page as a regular Page, so there is no separate business menu to find.

Once you confirm, Meta deactivates the Page immediately. Per Meta’s Help Center, it is not permanently deleted until 14 days have passed, which is your window to change your mind.

If your screen shows Settings > General > Remove Page instead, you are looking at the classic Pages layout that older tutorials describe. Meta’s current Help Center steps describe the new Pages experience, so if the menus above do not match, switch into the Page first. That switch is the step most people miss.

Step 4: How to Delete a Facebook Page in the Mobile App

Yes, you can delete a Facebook Page from your phone. The path is the same idea as on desktop: switch into the Page, then go to Settings and Access and control.

Meta’s iPhone app instructions are:

1. Tap Menu (or your profile picture), then tap Options and select the Page you want to switch into.
2. Tap Menu again.
3. Tap Settings & privacy, then Settings.
4. Tap Access and control.
5. Select Delete Page, tap Continue and follow the steps.

On Android, Facebook Lite and the mobile browser, the button positions can differ, but the logic is the same: switch into the Page first, then find Settings, then Access and control. If you cannot find it on your phone, use a computer. The desktop path is the most consistent one across devices.

Step 5: Unpublish the Page Instead (If You Only Want It Hidden)

Unpublishing hides the Page from the public while you and other authorized people keep working on it. It is the safest choice for rebrands, seasonal businesses and Pages you are rebuilding.

According to Meta’s unpublish guide, an unpublished Page cannot interact with other profiles or Pages, and any existing ad campaigns are paused. Only people with Facebook access can unpublish or republish. The steps are:

1. Switch to your Page.
2. Click your Page profile picture in the top right, then click your Page.
3. Under Manage Page, click Settings.
4. Under Your information, click Access and control.
5. Click Unpublish Page, then Continue, then Confirm.

To bring it back, follow the same path and choose Publish Page. Any edits you made while it was hidden go live at that moment. If you are using the quiet period to tidy up your Page details, our guide to Facebook Page basic and advanced settings walks through each section.

Step 6: Cancel Deletion or Reactivate the Page Within 14 Days

To undo a deletion, go to your personal profile’s settings, not the Page’s. Meta states that a Page can only be reactivated from a personal Facebook profile, not from the Page’s business settings.

On a computer

1. From your main personal profile, click your profile photo in the top right.
2. Click Settings and privacy, then Settings.
3. Under Your activity, click Reactivate a Page.
4. Find the Page and click Reactivate.

In the iPhone app

1. From your main profile, tap Menu.
2. Tap Settings and privacy, then Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap Pages.
4. Next to Reactivate your Pages, tap View, find the Page and tap Reactivate.

The same Reactivate a Page screen restores a Page you deactivated rather than deleted. For parent and child Pages, such as a brand Page with store-location Pages, Meta notes that deactivating the parent also deactivates its child Pages. When you reactivate the parent, the children come back too, except any child Page that was deactivated separately. Unpublishing works the same way, and a child Page cannot be republished until its parent is.

What Happens After You Delete a Facebook Page?

When you delete a Facebook Page, the change affects only that Page. Your personal profile, your other Pages and your login stay as they are. Here is the sequence, based on Meta’s documentation:

• Day 0: you request deletion and the Page is deactivated straight away, so the public can no longer see it.
• Days 1 to 14: you can cancel from your personal profile under Reactivate a Page.
• After 14 days: the Page is permanently deleted and cannot be restored through the Reactivate option.

Do not confuse this with deleting your personal account. Meta’s article on permanently deleting your Facebook profile describes a separate process in Accounts Center: you can cancel if it has been less than 30 days since you started, though Meta notes the number of days varies by region. That 30-day figure belongs to profiles, not Pages. Meta’s Page deletion article also says nothing about deleting a linked Instagram account, which has its own settings, so review any Instagram connection separately before you delete.

Troubleshooting and Common Mistakes

Most failed attempts to delete a Facebook Page come down to access, the wrong menu or the wrong profile. Check these before you contact Meta support.

• “I don’t see Delete Page.” You almost certainly lack Facebook access with full control. Task access and Community Manager access do not show the option. Ask a person with full control to delete the Page or to upgrade your access.
• You are looking in your personal settings. Delete Page appears only after you switch into the Page. Your personal profile’s settings do not include it.
• You are following an outdated tutorial. Guides that point to Settings > General > Remove Page describe the classic Pages layout.
• You try to reactivate from the Page. It will not work. Reactivation lives in your personal profile settings.
• You wait too long. After 14 days the Page is gone. If you are unsure, deactivate or unpublish instead.
• The original admin has left. You cannot grant yourself access. Ask anyone who still holds full control, or check whether the Page is managed through a business portfolio in Meta Business Suite where another admin can help. If nobody with access remains, use Meta’s Help Center for your situation. We cannot promise a specific recovery route.
• You forgot the child Pages. Deactivating or unpublishing a parent Page also affects its location Pages.

A final check: if your goal was to delete a Facebook Page because of a duplicate created by mistake, make sure you are deleting the right one. Compare follower counts, the Page username and recent posts before you confirm.

Next Steps

If you are replacing the old Page rather than leaving Facebook, this is the reading order we suggest: start with how to create a Facebook business Page, then set it up properly with basic and advanced Page settings, and finally share control safely using how to add an admin to a Facebook Page.

If ads were running on the Page you removed, rebuild them on the new Page with clean audiences and tracking. Our Facebook and Instagram ads team can set that up, or you can contact us with questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why don’t I see the Delete Page option on my Facebook Page?

The option appears only for people with Facebook access with full control, and only after you switch into the Page. If you have task access or Community Manager access, the button is hidden. Ask someone with full control to delete the Page for you or to upgrade your access. Then check Settings & privacy > Settings > Access and control again.

How long does it take to delete a Facebook business Page?

The Page is deactivated the moment you confirm, so the public stops seeing it right away. According to Meta’s Help Center, permanent deletion happens after 14 days. During those 14 days you can cancel from your personal profile under Settings > Reactivate a Page. After that, the Page and its content cannot be restored through Facebook’s settings.

What is the difference between unpublishing, deactivating and deleting a Page?

Unpublishing hides the Page from the public while authorized people keep editing it, and ads pause. Deactivating hides it from everyone, including followers, and blocks edits until you reactivate. Deleting deactivates the Page immediately and removes it permanently after 14 days. Unpublishing and deactivating can be undone at any time. Deletion can only be cancelled within the 14-day window.

Can I delete a Facebook Page from my phone?

Yes. To delete a Facebook Page in the app, tap Menu, switch into the Page, tap Menu again, then go to Settings & privacy > Settings > Access and control > Delete Page and tap Continue. Meta documents these steps for iPhone. On Android or Facebook Lite the buttons may sit in slightly different places, so use a computer if you cannot find the option.

Does deleting my Facebook Page delete my personal account or Instagram?

No. When you delete a Facebook Page, only that Page is removed. Your personal profile is deleted through a separate Accounts Center process, which has its own window of less than 30 days to cancel. Meta’s Page deletion article does not say a linked Instagram account is deleted with the Page, and Instagram has its own account settings. Review that connection separately before you delete.

What happens to my ads and followers when I unpublish or delete a Page?

When you unpublish, Meta pauses existing ad campaigns and blocks new ones, and followers cannot see the Page until you republish. When you delete, the Page is hidden immediately and removed after 14 days, along with its followers and posts. Stop active ads in Ads Manager and download a copy of the Page before you start either process.

How do I delete a Page if the admin is gone or I only have task access?

To delete a Facebook Page you need Facebook access with full control, and you cannot grant it to yourself. Ask anyone who still has full control to delete the Page or give you that access. If the Page belongs to a business portfolio, another portfolio admin may be able to help. If nobody with access remains, look up your situation in Meta’s Help Center.