May 9, 2024, 1:15 pm | Read time: 8 minutes

Countless people share their lives on social media. They post photos of their food, travels, children, and hobbies, often without much thought. There are also comments on current life situations, political conditions, or meals. Looking back on these posts years later, you might find some embarrassing pictures or quotes that no longer fit your current self. In this case, it’s better to clean up your social media presence and delete inappropriate posts. Sometimes, the only solution is to wipe the entire profile. TECHBOOK explains the best general approach.

Facebook–removing the old guard

Theoretically, you can edit or delete every single activity on Facebook–whether it’s a post, comment, or conversation. The process is always similar. You open the three-dot menu and select “edit” or, if possible, “delete.” To get an overview of how active you’ve been on Facebook over the years, you can consult the activity log. Almost every user action is recorded chronologically here, and you can make individual changes: Likes can be removed, posts deleted, and timeline entries edited.

Here’s how to access the activity log:

1. Log into your Facebook profile and click on your profile picture.
2. Under “Settings & Privacy,” there is a tab for “Activity Log.”
3. Here, you can use the filters “Date” and “Activity Type” to search for specific activities. Everything from your own posts, tags, likes, groups, events, and profile information is included and can be edited.

If you want to clean up your Facebook presence and delete posts, you can go wild here, but you should be prepared to spend some time. A lot of time, if you’ve used Facebook regularly. It’s much faster if you want to completely separate from your Facebook profile. However, there’s an important difference between deleting and deactivating the profile. When deactivated, the profile becomes invisible to other Facebook users, as if it were deleted. An exception is direct messages with friends, and your name might still appear in their friend lists.

When deactivated, all data remains intact, and the profile can be reactivated at any time. So if you’re looking for a quick solution but might not want to part with your Facebook profile permanently, you can start with deactivation. If you want to delete your profile, you should be patient, as Facebook only executes the deletion a few days after the request. If you log in again in the meantime, the deletion is canceled. Even after successful deletion, friends can access direct messages. Additionally, Facebook continues to store some information, such as login data, in its database.

Here’s how to delete or deactivate your Facebook account:

1. Click on your profile picture in the top right and select “Settings & Privacy.”
2. Navigate from the “Settings” tab to “Account Overview” and then to “Personal Information.”
3. Now select the “Account Ownership and Control” section.
4. Here, you can finally delete or deactivate your profile. Follow any further instructions if necessary.

If you want to reactivate your account, you just need to log back into Facebook. However, the email address or phone number provided must still be current.

Instagram–the duckface era is over

Snapshots, creative reels, candid shots, and elaborately staged photos–that’s what Instagram is all about. But it’s easy for a funny picture to become embarrassing over time, or for an aesthetic photo collection to suddenly seem kitschy. Since Instagram, like Facebook, is part of Meta, the options are similar. You can edit or delete individual posts, or deactivate or delete the entire profile.

If you want to edit or delete your own post, you must first open it and select the three-dot menu in the top right. Among other options, “Delete” and “Edit” will appear. If the Instagram account is deactivated, all photos, comments, likes, and the profile itself are hidden from others. If the account is deleted, the same username can be used for a new account.

Here’s how it works:

1. Open the “More” section (three lines) at the bottom left and then click on “Settings.”
2. Navigate to the “Account Overview” section and then to “Personal Information.”
3. Select the “Account Ownership and Control” tab.
4. Now click on “Deactivate” or “Delete” and follow the instructions.

If you request the deletion of your Instagram account, Meta will execute it only after 30 days. Meta may retain backups for up to 90 days. During this time, the profile is no longer visible to other users.

TikTok–not every trend has to stay

The Chinese app TikTok is especially popular among younger users. Even more than Instagram, TikTok thrives on short reels and trends, which you might later question whether you should have participated in. TikTok also offers the options to delete or deactivate. To delete an individual post, you must first open it, tap “More Options,” and finally “Delete.”

Even a deleted post remains in TikTok’s database for 30 days and can be restored during this time:

1. To do this, open the “Menu” in your profile and select the “Privacy and Settings” tab.
2. Here, you’ll find the “Activity Center” and the “Recently Deleted” folder.
3. Select the desired post, and you can restore it within 30 days. This will automatically bring back all likes and comments on the post.

However, there are exceptions for Stitch and Duet videos where the original material has been deleted by the respective creator.

If you want to deactivate your TikTok account, similar rules apply as with Meta: The profile and all posts become invisible to other users, except for direct messages and Stitch and Duet videos, which may remain visible.

1. Select the three-line menu in your profile.
2. Navigate to the “Settings and Privacy” section.
3. Click on “Account” and then on the “Deactivate or Delete Account” tab and follow the further instructions.

If you want to reactivate a deactivated TikTok account, you just need to log in again and tap “Reactivate.”

Read also: What is Reddit and how does it work?

More on the topic

With Just a Few Clicks How to Hide Your X Account from the Public

Social Media What Can the Twitter Alternative “Threads” Do?

X (Twitter)–embarrassing tweets

People say a lot when the day is long. But embarrassing tweets from the past can be banished with built-in tools. For example, the advanced search allows you to specifically search for older posts using certain keywords. External provider tools often help faster and more conveniently with cleanup. A good post overview is offered by Tweetdeleter–even though X has long replaced the term “Tweet” with “Post.” The list that Tweetdeleter generates can be filtered by various criteria; tweets can be deleted directly.

The web service Tweetdelete can automatically ban X posts older than a user-defined period–either once or regularly. This keeps the social media network clean without having to manually delete posts repeatedly. The tool Tokimeki Unfollow helps with “unfollowing.” It shows the latest tweets from accounts one by one and offers the option to no longer follow each profile.

Also interesting: How to hide your X account from the public

If you want to manually delete posts, you can do so by opening the respective post and calling up the three-dot menu. Here, you can click on “Delete Tweet.” X does not provide an option to delete multiple posts at once. Regarding deactivation or deletion, there is an important difference with X compared to Meta apps: If a deactivated account is not used or reactivated for 30 days, it is automatically deleted. During this time, the profile is no longer visible to other users.

1. Click on the three-dot “More” menu in your profile.
2. Navigate to “Settings and Privacy” under “Your Account.”
3. Here, you can select “Deactivate Your Account” and follow the further instructions.

Google and YouTube

The search engine is, of course, not a social network. But even there, a lot of information about oneself can appear–wanted or unwanted, old or new. To always be aware of what the Google search finds about you, it’s worth setting up the continuous search Google Alerts.

The service automatically informs you via email about new hits. You should set up an alert not only for your own name but also for usernames or nicknames you use on various services and networks.

If you fear you’ve gone overboard with YouTube comments, you can view their history and delete posts selectively.