3 Ways To Delete Items From Facebook's Trash Bin - WikiHow Tech

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This helped me How to Delete Items from Facebook's Trash Bin Explore this Article methods 1 Clearing Over the Facebook Mobile App 2 Clearing Over the Facebook Mobile Website 3 Clearing from the Facebook Website Other Sections Tips and Warnings Related Articles Author Info

Last Updated: August 26, 2021

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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 13,434 times.

Recently, Facebook has abandoned a more permanent deletion of posts in lieu of a trash bin located on the site. Although it's hard to find this trash bin, its processes for deleting items from it also differ between a PC and a mobile device.

Steps

Method 1 Method 1 of 3:

Clearing Over the Facebook Mobile App

1. 1 Open and log in to the Facebook app. The Facebook app is a white letter lowercase "f" on a blue/navy square-shaped background. This doesn't differ between iPhone and Android.
2. 2 Find your Activity Log page within the app.
   • Tap the Hamburger menu at the bottom left corner.
   • Tap your name at the top of the screen.
   • Tap the three dots button to the left of the "Add Story" button. This button should be close to the top of the page.
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3. 3 Tap the Activity Log option. It'll be found between the "View As" and "Review Posts and Tags" options.
4. 4 Filter the list to include only the trash. Tap the choice that reads Trash on the line just below the "Activity Log" label. It's the button on the right-most end of the line.
5. 5 Locate the post on the list that you want to completely delete. Tap the three dots icon to the right of the item you want to delete. On the mobile phone apps, some posts will have quick previews right on them, while others don't and you'll have to click the button (mentioned in an upcoming step) and choose View.
6. 6 Make the choice to delete, if necessary. Tap the choice that best helps clear the items from the Trash Bin list. While most people choose to permanently delete items here, you can find these options in the drop-down list that magically appears near the bottom of the screen. Delete is at the bottom of the menu, with both "Move to archive" and "Restore to preview" directly above it.
7. 7 Confirm that you'd like to delete the post. Agree to the dialog box reading "Delete? Items you delete can't be restored." Tap the Delete button - found on the bottom right-hand side of the dialog box.
8. 8 Wait for the system to catch up. It will take only a few moments for the post to delete from your profile and the system to catch up to you. Advertisement

Method 2 Method 2 of 3:

Clearing Over the Facebook Mobile Website

1. 1Open up and log into your Facebook account at Facebook Mobile.
2. 2 Find your Activity Log.
   • Tap your profile icon in the top left corner of the page.
   • Tap the three dots icon to the right of "Edit Profile."
   • Select the Activity Log option, which is found between "View As" and "Edit Profile Picture" choices.
3. 3 Find the trash bin. On the Facebook Mobile Website Activity Log, you'll find the "Trash" button directly below Archive, near the top of the page. It'll have a > arrow on the right end of it, though it's not going to open up a drop-down box.
4. 4 Preview the choices to delete. On Facebook's mobile website, each item's preview is within its own choice.
5. 5 Tap the down arrow button to the direct right of the item's link "(name) shared (item)." For items in months older than the current month, you'll need to locate the month and tap it in the list to view it.
   • Each month has buttons to load additional posts that aren't being displayed. Facebook grabs the first few trash binned items to save bandwidth. To have the Facebook mobile website load more trash bin entries from that month, tap the button. But if it displays "No more from (month name)", you can move on, because there are no more items from that month that have been trashed to this trash bin that should be sorted out.
6. 6 Make the choice to delete, if necessary. Tap the choice that best helps clear the items from the Trash Bin list. While most people choose to permanently delete items here, you can find these options in the drop-down list that magically appears floating nearby the drop-down selector button, untied to anything of value, near the post that you've chosen. Delete is at the bottom of the menu, with both "Move to archive" and "Restore to preview" directly above it.
7. 7 Confirm the deletion. Tap the left-hand side "Delete" button, on the page saying "Delete? Items you delete can't be restored."
8. 8Wait for the page to catch up and load the remainder of your Trash Bin log page. Advertisement

Method 3 Method 3 of 3:

Clearing from the Facebook Website

1. 1 Open up and log into the Facebook Website. Keep in mind that if you use this link on a mobile device, it'll automatically bring you to the mobile website for the method listed above. This method and link are only to be used on a PC or Mac.
2. 2 Find your Activity Log.
   • Get to your profile page. Click your profile picture and name button in the top right corner of Facebook's news feed page.
   • Click the three dots hamburger menu. This button should be found all the way on the right-hand side, just below your name and the about me section - to the right of the "Edit profile" button.
   • Click the "Activity Log" choice from the menu. This choice should be between "Archive" and "Profile and Tagging Settings".
3. 3 Choose to go into your Trash Bin. On the left-hand side, you'll see the "Trash" option towards the top of the main section several lines below the "Activity Log" label. You should see it between "Archive" and "Review Posts You're Tagged In."
4. 4 Find the post you want to delete. Look/scroll through the list of posts you've trashed (this list has replaced your options section) and find the post you want to delete. Some come with previews automatically, but some don't - so all it all depends on what was shared.
   • Links will tend to share less information in the preview, and you'll have to utilize the button mentioned in an upcoming step to view its post itself. Posts and reshares won't have that problem and you can generally delete them without much help.
5. 5 Hover over the post you want to permanently delete or clear off the list, and click the three dots button towards the right side of your choice. For those on touchscreen devices without a mouse, you can long-hold the item with your finger for a few seconds longer.
6. 6 Click the "Delete" choice from the choices in the menu that display. Delete should be right underneath the choice "Restore to profile" - at the very bottom of the list.
   • You also have the choice to "Move to archive" - found at the top of the options list.
7. 7 Confirm the deletion. Tap the right-hand side "Delete" button, on the page saying "Delete? Items you delete can't be restored."
8. 8 Wait for the deletion to be completed. It should only take a second or two to complete. Advertisement

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Tips

• Items you try to delete right from the Facebook Moments/On This Day feature won't delete this way. They work off the old deletion system - permanent delete with no way to restore it after confirmation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Facebook is now deleting trashed items after 45 days of being stored in this "hidden" folder, however, this can still be done for those where it needs to be more speedily deleted and away from your own eye. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 13,434 times. How helpful is this? Co-authors: 2 Updated: August 26, 2021 Views: 13,434

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Click a star to vote Co-authors: 2 Updated: August 26, 2021 Views: 13,434

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