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I Have Two Facebook Accounts, How Do I Delete Just One of Them?

Question: I have two personal Facebook accounts under my name. To make a long story short, while I was on vacation two years ago, I could not access my original Facebook account, so I created a second one using an alternate email address. The problem that I am facing now is that people connect with me through both Facebook accounts while I would rather use just one. I did look into deleting one of them, but I’m afraid that both of my accounts will then be deleted as both are under the same name, but have their own email and password. How do I safely delete just one of my accounts? 

As long as you have access to both accounts, deleting one of them safely is no problem at all.

The “problem” that many people run into is when they don’t have access to that “second” account — because they didn’t set it up in the first place!

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TL;DR:
  • Your email address, not your name, identifies your Facebook account.
  • You can safely delete an account by using its login email address.
  • You cannot delete fake or impersonation accounts, but should report them to Facebook instead.

Identifying a Facebook account

Two FacebooksDon’t take this personally, but Facebook doesn’t care about your name. (Well, within limits, of course.) What uniquely identifies a Facebook account is the email address. Each account has one and only one email address that’s used as the login identifier (think “user name”) for that account.

While there aren’t many Leo Notenbooms out there, there are plenty of John Smiths in the world.  If Facebook used only a name, then the first John Smith to disable his account would disable all of the John Smiths! (Arguably, the first John Smith to create an account would prevent all the other John Smiths from creating their own.)

The bottom line is, that’s not how it works. It’s the email address that matters.

Delete one account by email address

Pick the account you want to use. Make sure your friends who connected with you on the other account know that you’re moving. Then sign in to Facebook using the email address of the account you want to delete, and delete it. (Aside from a little confusion, there’s really nothing wrong with leaving the account open.)

But deleting one of your two Facebook accounts should be completely safe if done properly, since it’s identified by a unique email address.

If you don’t have access

One reason some people believe they have two accounts is if they encounter an account with their name — perhaps even their photographs and more — that they didn’t create.

The bad news is that since you didn’t create it, you don’t have access to it. You don’t know what email address was used to set it up, so you don’t have access to that either.

You’ve encountered a fake, cloned, or what Facebook refers to as an “impersonation” account. You cannot delete this account because it doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to the impostor.

Your options in this case are limited to reporting the account as fake and possibly asking your friends to do the same (make sure they report the correct — fake — account).

Since this is a pretty common problem, my understanding is that Facebook should take care of it relatively quickly.

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87 comments on “I Have Two Facebook Accounts, How Do I Delete Just One of Them?”

  1. Hi Leo
    Help I have 3 Facebook accounts with the same email address one is my business account and one is my personal account the other one no 3 i made by mistake and I am getting friends request I do not know. and I want delete this one I will be grate full for your advice
    David

    Reply
  2. I saw your post. I have 2 fasebook accounts. I don’t know the password to the account I want deleted. What can I do? My friends see the account I can’t get in and think I am using that one. I can’t comment on it. Anyway that account can be deleted since I don’t know the password. Help me please.

    Reply
      • I have two Facebook accounts with all the same info, email address and phone # and password. I also want to delete my business account , not my personal account

        Reply
      • Yes it happened to my husband. We were trying to transfer facebook to his phone and he couldn’t remember his password so I don’t know what we did but we created a new Facebook page with the same name and e-mail and phone number. How can we delete the new one we made by mistake and keep the old one?

        Reply
      • Leo,

        I also have two facebook accounts with the same email address and password. One is using the name “Dick” and the other is the one I want to keep, using the name “Richard”. I want to delete the one with the name “Dick” . Will deleting one also delete the second one?

        Reply
        • It isn’t possible to have two Facebook accounts with the same email address. The email address is the login identifier for the account. What is possible is a business account associated with a normal Facebook account.
          If it were possible to have two Facebook accounts with the same email address, Facebook wouldn’t know which account to log into when you entered your email address.

          Reply
          • It absolutely IS possible to have two accounts with the same email.
            I have an old one I made just to snoop on Facebook incognito and a newer one that I’m active on and have linked to my business page.
            This isnt a problem when I get on my phone with the app. It automatically opens up to my real/active account. The problem is when I want to log on with a desktop/laptop and the login ONLY offers my old account. I assure you I didn’t forget some unknown email address.
            I can visit my real account from the old one on a desktop but I cannot for the life of me log on to my real from a desktop. Now that I have a business and would like to work from a computer this is exceptionally frustrating.

          • Facebook actively prevents you from opening a second account with an email address that’s already in use on some other account.

            Is it possible that one of these two is a PAGE and not an account?

  3. I have more than one Face Book account that I did not make. I am going to try to delete them, or at least deactivate them.

    Reply
    • If you didn’t make the account, you won’t be able to delete it because you won’t be able to log in. If you could delete accounts like that, anybody would be able to delete anybody else’s accounts. You can report it to Facebook and they might delete the account.
      Click on the ellipse (3 dots), click “Give feedback or report this profile”, click “Pretending to be somebody” then click “Me”. “Click Send”.

      Reply
  4. I have two Facebook accounts. One uses my email and the other one uses a group of numbers. The reason I have two accounts is because the first one was hacked and I could not get into it. So I made a 2nd account. I was eventually able to get into the first account (whoever hacked must of figured out the account did not have much in that they wanted) the password had been reset.

    Now I hate to delete one account because of the photos of various activities and people in my family. Is there anyone the two accounts can be combined into one account?

    Reply
    • I don’t believe there is any way to merge 2 Facebook accounts, but what you can do if you have a lot of time is download all of the important photos from the accounts. I say accounts because if the photos are important, they shouldn’t only be in one place (Facebook). It can take a long time to go through all the photos so it all depends on how important those photos are to you.

      Reply
  5. When I log into my personal Facebook account with my one email, it lists TWO personal accounts in the drop down arrow menu when in the Ad Manager. Both are identified with account numbers. Both use the same profile picture and both list my three business pages. However when I set up a Payment Method in the Ad Manager, the Payment Method only applies to one of the personal accounts. I have to add it again in the second personal account after switching over to the second account number in the drop down arrow menu. What is going on? I’d like to delete one of the accounts but I don’t even know which one is being used for my personal page. The account numbers do not seem to correlate to the number in the browse bar of my personal page nor can I find these account numbers when I browse my personal page. Thanks!

    Reply
  6. So i made a business account using my same email address as my personal account and now when i log in it automatically signs into the business account i canno longer access my personal account..i am so aggravated by this..please help

    Reply
    • You can’t have two Facebook accounts with the same email address. The email address is the login name for the account. What I don’t understand is how Facebook allowed you to use the same email email address for the second account. Are you sure your personal timeline isn’t included in that business account?

      Reply
      • One consideration is that I do believe you can have the email address of one account set as some kind of recovery address for another. That can add to confusion.

        Also, if you set up a business Page — as I have for, say, Ask Leo! — that’s not the same as adding a new account. That’s all still accessed via your normal, single, Facebook login.

        Reply
      • Yes you can have two accounts with the same email address. My husband has two with identical pictures and info but the friends are different. One account is mobile and the other only works on his iPad. This is really screwed up. The account ID NUMBERS ARE DIFFERENT. So technically he can’t delete one account – they enabled this screw up.

        Reply
        • Facebook only allows one Facebook account for each email address. It’s possible to have a second alternate email address for account recovery and you can use the same recovery address on more than one Facebook account. That might be what is happening.

          Reply
  7. I need help. I did not want to have all my old high school friends and jokesters on my business info or vice versa. I did not want to link the business page to my personal profile; so I started a 2nd profile with a different email to use professionally for this business endeavor of creating social media. I am concerned I could lose access at any time to this profile due to “no more than 2 personal profiles rule and so I started a new one with a different username let’s say “company1”. I have had an login disabled already.

    I originally thought that the new professional personal page I made for myself would be the marketing page so it has all the best username(s); now I want to delete them both. BUT, these pages has 2 of the best username(s) tied up now that I want for the company (i.e. the ideal company name only, and one with “USA” behind company name) . If I delete this account entirely; when will that username become available so I can use it on the correct true old personal profile? I don;t want to be stuck with this profile I started with our company name with a “1” behind it. We are a manufacturer who distributes globally; we need our name not tied up.

    Reply
    • So to understand:

      My correct personal profile attached to:
      Bad username with “1” behind it – i.e. “@Companyname1”

      My 2nd personal profile made for professional use (before I found out you cannot have two); has the BEST usernames/tags for us held up. For example: “Companyname” or “CompanynameUSA”.

      So, if I cancel this 2nd profile I made and corresponding business page; will those usernames from those deleted accounts INSTANTLY BECOME AVAILABLE for me to use? So then I could change from the dorky 1 behind our name “Companyname1” to just “Companyname”…?

      Reply
  8. Hi,
    I realize that you say it is not possible to have more than one account with the same email, but it is. My grandfather has 2 accounts with the same email and he would like one closed. I cannot figure out how to do this. Is there some way to close one without the other? He uses facebook on a regular basis and he now is having trouble with people contacting him through the second account. I’m really confused on how he did this but would really like to fix it for him.

    Reply
    • It’s impossible to have 2 accounts with the same email unless one is a business or fan page associated with that account. For example, Leo has a business page called “Ask Leo!”. If that’s what is happening I can explain how to close that. Otherwise, if he has a second account, it would be logged into with another email address.

      Reply
  9. I have 2 FB accounts each with a different email. I need to delete one of the accounts. I also use messenger. If I delete the account that I will not use anymore will it mess up my messenger

    Reply
    • The messenger associated with the account you delete will also be deleted. The messenger associated with the account you do not delete will not be affected. Make sure you know which one it is you’re using.

      Reply
  10. I bought a new computer and when I set my fb acct. it pick up a old fb acct. we haven’t used in years. The difference in the two acct. is the fb user name. One has a .7 at the end. That’s the one I want to delete. I went through the process to delete it but it takes 30 days to complete. my concern is will I still have the fb acct without the .7 thanks for the help.

    Reply
  11. I somehow recently added another fb account with intent of changing password. However, fb friends as well as others are requesting and/or now inquiring if I sent them a new friend request? I know the password to that account but how do I get in to delete it or has that account been integrated with my original account because names are coming up I don’t know or ever seen before? Is there a fee for your assistance, if so, do advise me before providing me with any information???

    Reply
  12. Hi,
    I set up a burner Facebook account with a fake photo and fake profile it is somehow connected to my original fb account. I want to delete fake account without deactivating my original. But I just can’t figure out how to do this

    Reply
  13. I have two problems which I think are unique to the already asked questions.

    In November, my original Facebook account was mysteriously suspended for ‘suspicious activity’ (it was idle, only 1 device logged in, robust password). The mobile number linked to this account was an old sim, and this was the only means of verification I was provided.

    After months of trying, I gave up, set up a new account (new email). Recently, this one also was disabled when I attempted to submit a status update.

    Because of the festive season, I wanted to contact family, friends etc. as I am living abroad. I made an attempt to log in to my new account – no luck, still disabled.

    I made an attempt to log into my old account and strangely this time it allowed me to verify myself by a different means (identifying 4 comments I had made in the past).

    I downloaded the data for the new account to use on the old account, intending to delete the new account and revert solely back to the old account.

    On my old account, I made sure to add my current mobile sim number to the account. I also added 5 ‘trusted contacts’. I was ‘liking’ some pages and got logged out, again for ‘suspicious activity’.

    When I tried to log back in and receive the sms verification, it has reverted back to only allowing me to receive the SMS to my old sim number.

    I attempted to go around this by using the ‘forgot my password’ option and the new password code has 3 options for receipt – email, old sim, new sim – great! I send the code to my new sim, and change my password.

    However, once I have done this, Facebook prompts me to confirm my identity – with the only means of doing so by receiving an SMS only to my old sim number.

    I also tried logging back into my new account, which prompts as disabled. However, when I try to submit the form provided on the Facebook website to challenge/query a disabled account, it returns an error, stating that this account is not disabled and therefore I cannot submit the form with my ID.

    Therefore, I am currently stuck in a seemingly infinite loop of being unable to access either account, despite complete and robust compliance with Facebook procedures.

    Ideally, I just want to be able to access my old account for which I can access my email, new sim, but not my old sim. I need to find a way to get Facebook to send me the sms verification to my new sim number, or to allow me to confirm my identity by another means e.g. the 4 comments confirmation as above.

    I have had some serious issues in the past couple of months and urgently require contact with family and friends overseas. Any assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply
      • My type of marketing has more than one section to it so I wanted to do Fan Pages for each section…so I believe this answers my worries….I can now create a different page for each section; if I am understanding you correct. THANKS A MILLION Leo!

        Reply
  14. Please assist me: I just discovered I have two Facebook accounts. I assumed that my old account merged into my new one, a few years back when I had to change my email address. For the last couple of years, I have been perplexed as my best friend is NOT on my friend list anymore. She and I both have tried many times to refriend each other but she doesn’t come up when I search for her on my current account.

    Today, when I discovered that I have two existing accounts, I managed to go to my old account to search for my friend. I found her and sent her a friend request. She confirmed it and we are friends again on the old account. Unfortunately, she is not on my current account, which is the only one I use. How can I resolve this problem! I am not at all computer savvy and find everything about this totally MIND BOGGLING!

    PLEASE ADVISE ME!

    Thank you

    Reply
  15. I apologize if this has been covered. I have 2 Facebook accounts. Each with its own email/username. I want to delete 1 of the accounts but am fearful it will delete both accounts. Please advise. Thank you!

    Reply
  16. I have a personal facebook account and i created another account to showcase the charity foundation i opened. i used my official name for my personal account and used my unoffical name for the 2nd account. for the second account i used my first name and my husbands first name.

    i created groups with the second account to create awareness for the foundation. Now the groups have grown and i am getting financial support for the foundation. someone reported my 2nd group to facebook and suggested that i should be investigated.. Please what do i do to keep my groups in the 2nd account? My second account is locked and facebook is asking for my ID card.. and i only have id for my official name.. Kindly advice

    Reply
    • Honestly, I have no advice. I will say that separate ACCOUNTS are very different than different GROUPS or different PAGES. Generally accounts are per-person, and then you set up Pages for your organizations. Just like I have my personal Facebook account, and a separate Ask Leo! Page (which is not an account, but is managed by my personal account), and am a member (using my personal account) of several Facebook groups.

      Reply
  17. I have two Facebook accounts with the same email address. But my name is listed differently on each one. I in advertently set up the second one when I was trying to join a shopping group. So I don’t know how to delete one of them and not the other.

    Reply
  18. Please assist me, I have two Facebook accounts and I want to delete the first one. I got trouble logging into the first account so I decided to create another account which am currently using. My problem is how to delete the first account since I don’t know the login Id, I only know the user name.
    Your help in getting rid of the first account will be highly appreciated.

    Reply
  19. Well apparently I’ve 4 FB accounts I’m old and trying to change from iPhone to android.I tried the phone clone that didn’t work so here I am now with four account a with probably the same email.I want to keep the original but not sure which is the original

    Reply
  20. Leo I forget my Password and had to change it .. when I do I automatically open another account .. so now I cannot access the first account .. Only the second one which open .. I can still see and open the first BUT it doesn’t stay there .. It goes to the new on .. HELP ME I want my first account !!It’s the same email ..

    Reply
  21. Fcebook people again restricted my account for no reason. I do have second acct. My primary and moy second. Like to close out my primary and use my second. And transfer all my contacts to my second.

    Reply
  22. Leo, I created an account for a side business. Then sent invites not realizing that it would set up a
    different profile/fb acct. My main account that I have had for years now looks like a secondary
    account. When I just purchased a new iphone the business account profile is the one attached to
    my messenger which is not how I had it set up before setting up new iphone. I don’t know how to fix messenger now to attach to the original fb account. Everything that I have googled and tried to do
    isn’t working. I’ve put in a deletion request for the business account but it is stating that it will take
    30 days! I don’t want to wait that long, please help what can I do?

    Reply
    • You can switch the default posting account back

      Click on the triangle icon in the upper right of the Facebook page.
      Click on the Avatar icon to the right of Switch Accounts
      Click the radio button to the right of your main account
      switch profile

      Reply
      • not showing switch accounts. I think I have found part of the problem. The main account that I want has an incorrect email address that I can’t access any longer. I can’t change it because the second account is using that email and vice versa. Anyway I can delete the email?

        Reply
  23. I have 2 facebook accounts with the same email address but with different names: Richard Wallace and Dick Wallace. How can I erase the Dick Wallace account?

    Reply
  24. I definitely have two facebook accounts under the exact same email account. It very much is possible leo. My only solution is to delete the account that facebook forces you to log into. Unfortunately this requires a 30 day waiting period. However, after that the only account left will be the one you want to use. Hope this helps some of the people that leo just brushed off like a tech support in india.

    Reply
    • Unless you have a “Page” associated with your main Facebook account, it’s impossible to have more than one Facebook account with the same email address. It’s the email address that identifies the account. It’s like a house address. That address identifies the building and the associated pages of that account are similar to apartments in that building, but they are all in the same building and you have to go through the same door to enter.

      Reply
  25. hi my webmail account does not exist anymore and it my apple id for my iPhone so I forgot my webmail password how can I reactivate it again to reset my password?

    Reply
  26. Hi Leo,
    I came across your above article trying to resolve my below issue. I don’t want to delete an account has you’ve guided above.
    Can you please help me with additional Facebook profiles, rather than accounts?
    I cannot seem to find how to delete an addition Facebook profile from my account anywhere. The steps I can find after Googling only get me so far and then I do not have the option of the proposed “next step” on my screen!? I cannot find the “deactivation and deletion” option anywhere.
    Please help

    Reply

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