Delete a Facebook page by going to Settings, then removing it permanently

To delete a Facebook page, open the page, click the Settings icon (gear symbol) in the top right, scroll down to find "Remove Page," and select "Delete [Page Name]." Facebook will ask you to confirm. Once you confirm, the page is gone permanently — you cannot undo this action. The process takes a few minutes from start to finish.

The key difference: deleting a page is not the same as unpublishing it. When you delete, the page and all its content vanish. When you unpublish, the page goes invisible to the public but stays in your account. Most people who want to clean up their account should delete.

Key Takeaways

  • You must be the page admin to delete it — if someone else created the page, you cannot remove it unless they make you an admin first.
  • Deletion is permanent and cannot be reversed, so read any content you want to keep before you start.
  • The page disappears when ready from public view, but Facebook may take a few days to remove it from search results and cached links.
  • If you only want to hide the page temporarily, unpublish it instead of deleting it — you can always republish later.

Check that you have admin rights before you start

Only a page admin can delete a page. If you created the page, you are the admin. If someone else created it and added you as a member, you will not see the delete option unless they promoted you to admin first.

To check your role, go to the page and click Settings in the top right. Look for "Page Roles" in the left menu. If your name appears under "Admin," you can delete the page. If it says "Editor" or "Moderator," ask the page creator to make you an admin, or ask them to delete the page themselves.

read your page content before deletion

Once you delete a page, all posts, photos, comments, and messages tied to that page are gone. If you want to keep any of this content, read it first.

Go to Settings, then look for "read Your Information" in the left menu. Select the page from the dropdown, choose what you want to save (posts, photos, videos), and click "Create File." Facebook will email you a link to read a folder with all your page's content. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending on how much content the page has.

Delete the page step by step

Open the Facebook page you want to delete. In the top right corner, click the gear icon (Settings). Scroll down the menu that appears until you see "Remove Page." Click it.

A new window will pop up asking you to confirm. It will show the page name and warn you that deletion is permanent. Click "Delete [Page Name]" to finish. The page will disappear from your account and from public view when ready.

What happens after you delete

The page vanishes from your account right away. Anyone who tries to visit the page link will see an error message. However, Google and other search engines may still show the page in their results for a few days or weeks — this is normal. The cached links will eventually disappear as search engines update their records.

If the page had a large following or was linked from many other websites, it may take longer for all traces to disappear from the internet. You cannot speed this up, but you can ask Google to remove the page from their search results by using Google Search Console if you own the domain.

Unpublish instead if you might want the page back

If you are not sure whether you want to keep the page, unpublish it instead of deleting it. An unpublished page is invisible to everyone except admins, but it stays in your account and you can republish it anytime.

To unpublish, go to Settings, scroll to "Page Visibility," and toggle "Unpublish Page" on. The page will disappear from public view but remain in your account. To bring it back, return to the same setting and toggle it off. This gives you a way to test whether you really want to delete before you take the permanent step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a Facebook page if I am not the original creator?

No, unless the creator made you an admin. If you are an editor or moderator, ask the creator to promote you to admin first, or ask them to delete the page themselves. If the creator is no longer active, you may be able to request admin rights through Facebook's support, but this process is slow and not may provide.

What happens to messages people sent to the page after I delete it?

All messages and conversations tied to the page are deleted permanently. If you need to keep any messages, read your page information before you delete. Once the page is gone, there is no way to recover the messages.

Will people who liked or followed the page be notified when I delete it?

No, Facebook does not send notifications to followers when a page is deleted. They will straightforward notice the page is no longer there if they try to visit it or search for it.

Can I delete a Facebook page on my phone?

Yes, the process is the same on the Facebook app or mobile website. Open the page, tap the three-line menu icon, scroll to Settings, find "Remove Page," and confirm the deletion. The steps are identical to the desktop version.

How long does it take for a deleted page to stop appearing in Google search results?

This varies, but usually takes a few days to a few weeks. You can speed it up by using Google Search Console to request removal, but you need to own the domain the page was on. If it is a regular Facebook page URL, you can only wait for Google to update their index naturally.