If you have been wondering how to delete a Facebook business account, then you have come to the right place, as I am going to list all the steps you need to follow, in order for you to do close your Facebook page.
On the other hand, if you were looking for a guide on how to create a Facebook business page, then please refer to my post Can you have a Facebook business page without a personal profile? – This will show you how to create a page, regardless of whether you already have a personal profile or not.
Please note that all the steps on this page are based on the desktop version of Facebook, so if you are using your mobile, you might find that the steps won’t exactly match.
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What is a Facebook business account?
A Facebook page is a free public profile that you can create to engage with your customers and promote your products.
What makes Facebook pages really special is that, despite being very easy to use, they are a very powerful tool, especially if you learn how to use Facebook Analytics, which allows you to collect data of all your visitors, which can then be used to reach even more followers.
You can do so much with a Facebook business account and here is a short list of things that can be done:
- Create your business brand by uploading eye-catching profile and cover photos
- Publish posts to engage with your customers (Facebook analytics can help you understand which posts work best for you, so that you can get better engagement each time)
- Run ads to get more likes or drive potential customers to your website
- Directly message customers who have previously messaged you on Facebook (there is even an automated response feature for when customers message you while you are away)
Can I change my Facebook business page name?
Yes, you can! However, there are some limitations which can be overcome with a workaround.
The first thing you want to make sure of is that you take Facebook policies into consideration, when naming your page.
There are some rules such as:
- You must not use profanity
- There cannot be excessive incorrect grammar or punctuation
- Your page name cannot consist solely of generic terms or locations
- It cannot include any variation of the word “Facebook” or include the word “official”
Now that you have read the above, let’s see how you can change your Facebook business page name:
1. Log into your Facebook account
2. Click on the arrow button on the top right-hand side of the page and select the page that needs its name changed
3. Click on “About” on the left-hand side of the page (one of the options below your page’s photo)
4. In the “General” section, click on “edit” next to “Name”
5. Edit your page name and click on “Continue”
6. A confirmation dialog will appear –> Confirm change
7. Sit back and wait for the change to happen. Facebook will send you a notification
8. Don’t forget to do the same with @username, which is just below the name in the “About” page
Please note that Facebook will not allow you to drastically change the name of your page, as this would mean misleading your followers.
If your page name is “Get Fit Today”, you cannot change it to “Make money online”.
There is a workaround for it. I am going to tell you what it is for informational purpouse, however, please, avoid doing it as you could make your customers really angry!
- First change the name page from “Get Fit Today” to “Get Fit Today and Make Money Online”
- Wait for it to be approved
- Wait 7 days after approval, as Facebook won’t allow you to change the name more than once within the space of one week
- Change your name again by deleting the “Get Fit Today and” part and leave “Make Money Online”
See what I did there?
With the first change, I showed Facebook that I wanted to expand my page topic and kept the old name to keep things relevant.
When it was time to make the second change, I was allowed to delete the first part of the name as now “Make Money Online” was already part of the page!
Should I unpublish or delete my page?
It depends. Here are my questions:
- Have you thought about this so much, that you are 100% sure about deleting the page?
- Are you taking a completely different route and starting a different type of business?
- Is the new business up and running and have you not touched the old one for months?
If you have answered yes to all of them, then delete it.
As I said, you should not apply the workaround that I mentioned above and change your Facebook page name to a completely different one, just for the purpouse of keeping your old customers. There is no point anyway.
Can you imagine an 18 years old gamer, whom had previously joined your tech page, now be interested in your new business about the “super vacuum 3000”? Erm…NO!
If you simply wish to take a break from your business, then unpublish it by following these steps:
1. Log into your Facebook account
2. Click on the arrow button on the top right-hand side of the page and select the page that needs unpublishing
3. Click on “Settings” on the top right-hand side of the page
4. In the “General” tab, the first option is “Page visibility”. Edit it and select “Page unpublished”
Your page will now be visible to you and other people who have a role in the page, such as admins.
It can be made visible again at any time, by following the same steps above.
What are the steps to take to delete my Facebook Page?
OK, so you have made up your mind and you DEFINITELY want to delete your page.
To delete your Page, you’ll need to be an admin of that Page.
Here are the steps on how to delete a Facebook business account (page):
1. Log into your Facebook account
2. Click on the arrow button on the top right-hand side of the page and select the page that needs unpublishing
3. Click on “Settings” on the top right-hand side of the page
4. In the “General” tab, scroll right to the bottom of the page, where it says “Remove page” and click on “edit”.
5. Click on ‘Delete [page name]’. A confirmation dialog will appear
6. You can choose to unpublish the page straight away or leave it visible until page deletion.
7. Click on “Delete Page” and wait for 14 days to go by
8. After 14 days, go back to Settings –> General –> Remove page
9. The “Remove page” section will now look like this:
10. Click on “Permanently delete [page name]”
11. Confirm page deletion on the dialog below:
That is it! Your Facebook Business page is now gone… Forever!
How can I recover a permanently deleted page?
I am afraid you can’t!
As per my last screenshot above, FB does warn you that once you delete a page, you will not be able to get it back.
A page can only be recovered during the first part of the deletion process, when you have to wait for 14 days to go by before you can permanently delete it. After that, if you confirm that you want the page gone, then it will be gone!
This is why I wrote a long blog post, stating the different options you have and asking you to think about it before deleting a page.
Now, don’t despair if your page only had a couple of hundred likes… You can easily reach that milestone again 🙂
If your page had thousands of likes though…ouch!!! 🙁
I hope you found what you needed in this post but if you have anymore questions, please feel free to post a comment or email me directly at [email protected] 🙂
Thank you for the very comprehensive and easy to follow instructions for not only deleting a Facebook business page, but also to make sure that it is really something we want to do. You also told us how to rename it which can be very useful! In the past, I have just let my basically abandoned pages just stay there. Now I actually know how to delete them. Thanks for that. Why do I have to wait 14 days to permanently delete the page especially if it has been untouched for months? Also, do you know if you can rebuild the page if you change your mind or is that page name gone for good, too?
Thanks and I look forward to your reply!
Hi Karin,
Glad to know you found this article useful.
I guess FB gives you 14 days, so that you have the chance to change your mind. Perhaps they had so many complaints in the past of people who accidentally deleted their pages.
As I mentioned at the end of my article, once the page is deleted permanently, it cannot be reinstated.
I hope this helps!
Cristina
This blog just came in handy for a friend. Thank you. I like the way it was well detailed for understanding, and the pictures were helpful. Thanks again.
I’ll share this link with my contacts, there’s a lot to learn there. Can I get a link to completely closing down a personal facebook account?
Hi Dhayours,
I am glad you liked the article 🙂
I have not written an article on how to close personal Facebook accounts as it is not relevant to my site which is about being an entrepreneur, aka “business” 🙂
However, you can refer to this Facebook’s guide on how to delete a personal account
I hope this helps!
Cristina
Although I have a few fan pages associated with my Facebook personal profile (aka Facebook business accounts) and have used and paid for Facebook advertising and deployed the Facebook pixel, I have always found Facebook a bit of a mystery with a really awkward and confusing menu structure. Not to mention inconsistent.
I’m so glad to have found your article How to Delete a Facebook Business Account.
And to see it labelled 2019. Which means it’ll be up to date. Unlike many tutorials, where Facebook has changed since the tutorial was created.
You’ve covered much more than just what is suggested by the tile and I’ll certainly be checking out your other links, particularly Can you have a Facebook business page without a personal profile? I don’t know yet whether the answer is Yes or No but having to associate a business with your personal profile and calling them fan pages, always seemed crazy to me.
Thanks for all this information.
Hi Phil,
Thank you for your comment.
I think Facebook just has so much you can do and changes so often, that it is hard to keep up with it, so it is nice to share tutorials with fellow marketers, so that they do not have to go through the same struggles 🙂
Please let me know if you liked the other article and if you need any help with your page.
Cristina
Hi Cristina,
Thank you for your information on Facebook business account.
I have just started my Facebook business page. There are quite a number of things I want to add to it. Your information is very useful at this time.
Your tips on how to change a business page name is helpful. I agree with you, sometimes changing the business page name will make our customers angry. So, do it when it is really necessary.
Hi Christine,
Very wise decision on starting a Facebook account for your business!
Please let me know if you need any help.
Cristina