How to Close a Person's Facebook Account When They Pass Away

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is hard enough, never mind trying to organise a funeral, share the news or arrange catering.

Furthermore, there are a number of other arrangements that you’ll need to make which you won’t have thought of before, but that is why we’re here to help.

It wasn’t so long ago that social media didn’t exist, such simpler days they were, however, according to various studies, there are around 3.19 billion people who use social platforms.

This number is growing and it means that more and more people are investing time into their digital lives, which is why it is important to know what to do when a loved one passes away and their social media profiles need to be closed.

If you want to close somebody’s Facebook account once they have passed away, follow these simple steps;

• Log into your own Facebook account on a laptop or your phone
  
• Click the menu option
  
• Click on ‘Help and Support’ and then ‘Help Centre’
  
• Type, ‘deceased user delete’, into the search box at the top of the page
  
• Choose the option to remove the account
  

When you reach the final step, you will be provided with an option to Memorialise the account, if you would like to find out what this means, you can read our dedicated guide here. (link to memorialised content once live)

Closing somebody’s Facebook account may not seem like a difficult task, however, it’s likely that you may feel upset while in the process of removing your loved one’s profile.

The truth is that a lot of memories, messages, photos and videos will be saved online, so removing it all may feel like you are letting go completely, but this is a part of modern life as we all spend so much time online and investing in our digital personas.

Memorialising a Facebook account allows you to find a happy medium, where nobody is allowed to log into the account but all of the photos and messages remain.

However, if you feel like you and the loved one’s family and friends need closure, removing the account may suit you better, it is completely up to you and how you chose to deal with your grief.

If you would like some guidance on managing the loss of your loved one, we also have a dedicated guide which you can read here (link to dealing with grief content once live).

It is also important to remember that you don’t need to rush the decision, grief and loss is one of the most difficult things to deal with and decision making is extremely difficult, so make sure to take your time and use the support of those around you.

Regardless of whether you close the account or memorialise it, remember that help and support is available from our team and you can get in touch when you need it.