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To see what Facebook associates with your account, use Access your information and Activity log; to keep an offline copy, use Download your information. Use Audience and visibility to change who can see selected profile details and content. To limit certain uses of activity supplied by other businesses, check the relevant control in Accounts Center or Facebook settings. These tools do different jobs: none is a universal switch that stops Facebook collecting or retaining all data.
Start with privacy and audience settings
In Facebook, open your profile menu and choose Settings & privacy, then Settings. Look for Audience and visibility to review controls for profile details, posts, followers, tagging and blocking. Labels and their location can vary by device, account and country, so follow the names shown in your current settings.
Privacy Checkup is another way to review several sharing and security choices. These controls determine who can see particular information or content; changing an audience does not itself erase the information or determine every way Facebook may use it.
See information associated with your account
Use Access your information for an overview
In Settings, search for or open Access your information. Facebook’s help materials describe an organized view of account information, with categories that have included activity, personal information, connections, logged information, security and login information, apps and websites outside Facebook or Meta, preferences, and ads information. The categories and labels may change, and may not appear identically for every account.
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Use Activity log to find particular actions
Open your profile, select the menu or options control, and choose Activity log (or search for that label in settings). It can help you find and manage activity such as posts, comments, likes, searches and apps you have used. Available filters and actions depend on the activity type.
Where Facebook offers the option, archiving or deleting an item changes the status of that eligible content or activity. It is not the same as changing its audience: audience controls address who can see content, while an archive or deletion action addresses the item itself. Neither should be treated as a guarantee that every associated record is immediately removed from all systems.
Download a copy for your own records
In Settings, find Download your information. Facebook’s help materials describe choosing all available categories or selecting particular categories and date ranges. The flow may also offer options for format or media quality; use the choices currently shown and check the resulting file before relying on it as a complete archive.
Facebook also describes tools for transferring some information to another service. A download or transfer is for keeping or moving a copy; it does not reduce Facebook’s collection, change post visibility, or delete the online account.
Limit use of activity from other businesses
Meta announced on June 9, 2026 that it would expand Activity from other businesses to cover personalization beyond ads, and discontinue the older Your activity off Meta technologies control. The announcement said the change would begin in the United States and certain other countries in July 2026, with more countries later; it did not list every country. Availability and wording can therefore depend on where you live and the rollout status of your account.
Open Facebook’s Accounts Center or settings and look for Activity from other businesses or the current control that describes activity shared by other businesses. Read the on-screen explanation before changing it. The setting concerns how activity supplied by other businesses is used for personalization, including non-ad personalization under the expanded control; it is not a control for all information Facebook collects directly or for all advertising data uses.
Meta said in its June 2026 announcement, “We aren’t collecting any new data as part of this update.” That statement refers to the announced control change and is Meta’s characterization of it.
For readers in the United States
Meta’s US regional privacy notice describes controls for ad-partner activity in Ad Preferences or Accounts Center. It also says Global Privacy Control may be honored for targeted-advertising opt-outs in qualifying circumstances under applicable US privacy laws. This is a US-specific description, not a worldwide guarantee or a substitute for checking whether a particular state law applies.
For readers elsewhere
Check the privacy notice and controls applicable in your own country. Do not assume that a US legal opt-out, a similarly named setting, or its availability applies to your account or jurisdiction.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Choose the control that matches your goal
| Goal | Control to look for | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Inspect information Facebook associates with the account | Access your information | Displays an organized account overview; it does not itself change visibility or collection. |
| Find or manage particular actions | Activity log | Helps locate activity and, where offered, archive or delete eligible items. |
| Keep an offline copy or move some information | Download your information or transfer tools | Creates or transfers a copy; it does not remove the online account data. |
| Change who can see selected profile details or content | Audience and visibility; Privacy Checkup | Changes sharing choices for covered information or content, not every data use or retained record. |
| Limit personalization using activity supplied by other businesses | Activity from other businesses, or the current equivalent in Accounts Center/settings | Addresses a particular use of business-shared activity; availability and scope depend on rollout and location. |
| Remove the account | Account deletion flow | Begins a consequential account-level deletion process; review current terms and download desired information first. |
Consider deletion only if you want to leave Facebook
Permanent account deletion is different from hiding content, managing activity or limiting personalization. Facebook advises downloading information first and warns that account content cannot be retrieved after deletion. Its help information also says deletion affects Messenger and Facebook Login use, and that copies may remain in backups for up to 90 days in some circumstances.
Before confirming, read the live deletion flow’s current explanation of timing, connected services and retention. Facebook’s help content has not always been directly accessible without logging in, so do not treat the backup period as a guarantee that all copies are erased on a particular date.
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