What happens when you delete a business Facebook account
When you delete a business Facebook account, Facebook removes the page permanently after 14 days. During those 14 days, the page is hidden from the public but you can restore it if you change your mind. After 14 days pass, the page, all its posts, photos, reviews, and messages are gone for good — Facebook does not recover deleted pages.
Before you delete, understand what you are losing. Any customer messages sent to that page will be inaccessible. Reviews and ratings people left on the page disappear. If you use Facebook Ads Manager to run ads, those ads will stop running. Any Instagram account linked to the business page will not be deleted — it stays separate unless you delete Instagram separately.
If other people manage the page with you, they will lose access when ready. The page will no longer appear in search results or in your personal Facebook profile's list of pages you manage.
Key Takeaways
- Deleting a business page takes 14 days to complete, and you can undo it during that window by visiting your Pages list.
- All posts, photos, customer messages, and reviews on the page are permanently deleted after 14 days and cannot be recovered.
- You must be the page admin to delete it, and all other admins and editors will lose access when ready.
- read your page data or take screenshots of important information before you delete, because Facebook does not provide it afterward.
- Linked Instagram accounts are not deleted when you delete the Facebook page — you must delete those separately if you want them gone.
Save your page information before deleting
Before you start the deletion process, read or screenshot anything you want to keep. Facebook does not send you a copy of your page data after deletion, so this is your only chance to preserve customer messages, post history, or performance data.
To read your page data, go to your business page, click Settings in the top right, then select read Your Information from the left menu. Choose the date range and data types you want — you can select posts, photos, videos, and messages. Facebook will prepare a file and email it to you within a few days. This file is a backup you can store on your computer.
If you use Facebook Ads Manager, log in separately and note which ads are running and their performance. Screenshot any metrics or reports you need for your records. If you have a business partner or accountant who needs this data, send it to them before you delete the page.
Steps to delete your business page
Open Facebook and go to your business page. Click Settings in the top right corner of the page. On the left side menu, scroll down and click General. Near the bottom of the General section, you will see a button that says Remove Page. Click it.
Facebook will ask you to confirm. It will show you the page name and explain that the page will be deleted in 14 days. Click Delete Page to confirm. You will be asked to enter your Facebook password to verify it is really you. Type your password and click Confirm.
After you confirm, the page is hidden from the public when ready. You will see a message saying the page is scheduled for deletion. The page will stay in this state for 14 days. During this time, no one can see the page or post to it, but you can still undo the deletion.
How to undo a deletion during the 14-day window
If you change your mind within 14 days, you can restore the page. Go to your Pages list — click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) on the left side of Facebook, scroll down, and click Pages. Find the page you deleted in the list. It will show a label saying it is scheduled for deletion.
Click on the page name to open it. You will see a message at the top saying the page will be deleted on a specific date. Click Cancel Deletion. Facebook will ask you to confirm that you want to keep the page. Click Restore, and the page will return to normal. All posts, photos, and information will be restored exactly as they were.
After you restore the page, it will be visible to the public again and people can message you and leave reviews. If you had ads running before deletion, you will need to restart them in Ads Manager — they do not automatically resume.
What to do if you want to keep the page but stop using it
Deletion is permanent, so consider whether you actually want to delete or just pause. If you might use the page again someday, or if you want to preserve the page name or history, you have other options.
You can unpublish the page instead of deleting it. An unpublished page is hidden from the public and does not appear in search results, but it still exists and you can republish it later. To unpublish, go to Settings, click General, and look for Page Visibility. Change it to Unpublished. The page stays in your Pages list and you can turn it back on whenever you want.
You can also remove yourself as admin and transfer the page to someone else. Go to Settings, click Page Roles, and remove your name from the admin list. This keeps the page active but you no longer manage it. Use this option if you are leaving a business but the business continues.
Removing ads and linked accounts before deletion
If you run ads through this page, stop them before you delete. Go to Ads Manager, find the campaigns linked to this page, and turn them off. Paused ads do not spend money, but they still exist. If you delete the page while ads are running, the ads will stop but you may not see a final bill for partial days of spending.
Check whether your Instagram account is linked to this Facebook page. Go to Settings, click Instagram Accounts, and see if any accounts are connected. If you want to keep your Instagram account, unlink it before you delete the Facebook page. Click the account name and select Disconnect. Your Instagram account will remain active and separate.
If you have a Facebook Shop set up on this page, deleting the page will remove the shop. read your product list or take screenshots if you need that information for another platform.
After the page is permanently deleted
Once 14 days have passed, the page is gone. The page URL will no longer work. If someone tries to visit the old page link, they will see a message that the page does not exist. Search engines will eventually remove the page from their index, though this can take weeks.
If you had a custom page URL (like facebook.com/yourcompanyname), that URL becomes available for someone else to claim after deletion. If you want to keep that name, do not delete the page — unpublish it instead.
Any reviews or ratings that were on the page are gone. Customers cannot see them anymore and cannot leave new reviews on a deleted page. If you want to preserve your reputation or review history, take screenshots before deletion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a business page if I am not the admin?
No. Only a page admin can delete a business page. If you are an editor or moderator, you do not have permission. Ask the page admin to delete it, or ask them to make you an admin first. Go to Settings, click Page Roles, and see who the current admins are.
What happens to customer messages after I delete the page?
All messages in the page inbox are deleted permanently. You cannot recover them after the 14-day window closes. read your page data before you delete if you need to keep any customer conversations for your records or for legal reasons.
Will deleting my Facebook page affect my personal Facebook account?
No. Your personal account stays active and separate. Deleting a business page only removes that page. Your personal profile, friends list, and personal posts are not affected.
Can I delete a page and create a new one with the same name?
Yes, but you have to wait. The page name becomes available again after deletion is complete, usually within a few days. You can then create a new page with the same name. However, the new page will have no history or followers from the old page.
What if my business page has thousands of followers?
Deletion is still permanent. All followers will lose access to the page and will not be notified where you moved. If you want to keep your audience, unpublish the page instead of deleting it, or create a new page and ask followers to follow the new one before you delete the old page.