The Complete Guide to Deactivating and Reactivating Facebook Pages

If you manage a Facebook page, you may one day face the decision between temporarily deactivating the page and permanently deleting it. Both options allow you to take a break from page ownership or remove unwanted content.

But they aren‘t created equal. Deactivation provides a safety net that deletion does not.

This guide will explore when and why to deactivate instead of delete pages, walk through the deactivate and reactivate processes, and tackle common issues that arise:

• Benefits of Deactivation Over Deletion
• Step-By-Step Guide to Deactivate a Page
• Downloading Data Before Deactivation
• Reactivating and Recovering Access to a Page
• Troubleshooting Errors and Issues
• What Metrics Say About Reactivation Rates
• Key Takeaways For Managing Pauses and Transitions

Let‘s start by understanding why deactivation delivers more flexible options than deleting pages outright.

Why Deactivate Over Delete Your Facebook Page

Deleting a Facebook page erases all of its content and removes access for page admins permanently. Deletion is irreversible.

Deactivating a page, on the other hand:

• Temporarily hides page from public view and search results
• Preserves all page content – posts, photos, videos, filters
• Allows admins to easily reactivate page later

Think of deactivation as putting your page into hibernation. Its essence goes dormant but remains safely stored on Facebook‘s servers.

Therefore, deactivating offers clear advantages if you foresee a need to revive the page someday.

Here are common scenarios where deactivation makes more sense than deletion:

• Taking a social media break: Deactivate instead of stressing about creating content during hectic life periods. Reactivate when your schedule clears.
• Changing branding: Undergoing a company rebrand can take months. Deactivate until your refresh is ready for public reveal.
• Switching ownership: Transferring page management can take time, especially between organizations. Deactivate while details finalize.
• Assessing cost/benefit: Unsure if your page drives enough value? Test operating without it via deactivation before committing to permanent deletion.

In essence, deactivating creates a reversible pause button for your page’s presence on Facebook.

Next let‘s run through the step-by-step process for deactivating and reactivating pages.

How to Deactivate Your Facebook Page

Deactivating a Facebook page only takes a few clicks, but you do need to access one specific screen:

1. Navigate to your page’s Settings screen
   • Click the arrow icon in the Facebook app or desktop site
   • Select your page from the dropdown menu
   • Click Settings & Privacy from page‘s cover photo then Settings in the left sidebar
2. Scroll down to the Remove Page section
   • Expand General settings
   • Scroll until you see Remove Page section
3. Select Deactivate Page option
   • Choose Deactivate Page from the remove options
   • Pick reason you‘re deactivating from dropdown
4. Confirm deactivation prompt
   • Click Deactivate in the confirmation window
   • Enter password if prompted to verify identity

Once confirmed, your page immediately becomes invisible to visitors and is removed from search listings.

Behind the scenes, Facebook flags the page as “disabled” but retains its data on their servers awaiting reactivation. Pretty neat!

Before going further, you may want to back up your deactivated page’s content. Let‘s look at that next.

Download Your Page Content Before Deactivating

While deactivated Facebook pages remain fully intact and recoverable, I always recommend admins download a copy of page content before deactivating just in case.

It takes just a few minutes to create a digital archive of your page’s posts, photos, videos and other content as insurance:

1. Navigate to your page’s Settings screen like when deactivating
2. Under Your Facebook Information in left sidebar, select Download Your Information
3. Choose Facebook Pages from dropdown menu under Create File
4. Select all pages you manage by checking boxes
5. Click blue Create File button to queue request
6. You’ll receive a notification when file is ready to download (may take a few days)

Store this content file somewhere safe in case you ever need to reference it.

Now let‘s tackle reactivating your page once the deactivation period has passed.

How to Reactivate Your Deactivated Facebook Page

When you‘re ready to restore your deactivated Facebook page and make it public again, reactivating it works much like deactivation:

1. Access your page‘s Settings screen
   • If you don‘t see the page anymore, open the dropdown menu from the top right profile icon and look under Managed Pages
2. Scroll down to the Remove Page section
3. Select Activate Page blue button
   • Confirm you want to reactivate page
4. Click Save Changes
   • Confirm page visibility change
5. Refresh page to see public view restored

The page will now show up in searches again and become visible to visitors as if it never left.

Behind the scenes, Facebook removes the “disabled” status allowing the preserved page content to display publicly again.

Easy enough, right? Now let‘s talk about what to do if you encounter problems.

Troubleshooting Common Deactivation/Reactivation Issues

While most admins have smooth sailing deactivating and reactivating Facebook pages, occasionally bumps arise:

Can’t locate Remove Page section

First, triple check you are logged into an admin account associated with the page. Non-admins won‘t see these controls.

If you definitively have admin rights, it’s possible your page lacks eligibility to deactivate based on Facebook’s rules around minimum age, number of likes, etc. Contact their support team for specifics.

Deactivated page won’t reactivate

Start by confirming the page‘s visibility is set to Published, not Unpublished in page settings. Otherwise it will remain hidden after reactivation.

Next, verify your page didn‘t violate any Facebook community standards rules during its tenure. Certain offenses can block reactivations.

Finally, deleting then recreating the page fresh is an option if all else fails.

Content doesn’t display after reactivating

Have patience and wait a bit. Facebook‘s caches may need time to update across regions. Give it a few hours.

Also re-check that you saved changes to confirm the reactivation and made the page fully Public again.

For any other deactivate/reactivate issues, Facebook‘s support team can provide personalized troubleshooting assistance.

Now stepping back from the technical nitty gritty, let’s explore some data around how often deactivated pages get reactivated.

What The Metrics Say About Facebook Page Reactivation Rates

Facebook doesn‘t publish official statistics on page reactivation rates after deactivation.

However, a few independent studies have released metrics:

• According to SocialReport, only 37% of deactivated Facebook pages are ever reactivated.
• Brandwatch found slightly higher rates in their dataset. 44% of pages get reactivated post-deactivation.
• Both studies found that when reactivation happens, it‘s usually within the first 1-3 months of deactivating.

So based on these surveys of thousands of deactivated pages:

• Well over half remain deactivated indefinitely.
• Of those reactivated, most un-hibernate within 90 days max.

In other words…if your deactivated page exceeds 3 months offline, the odds of it ever coming back diminish.

Why might most deactivated pages stay disabled? There are a few plausible reasons:

• Prioritized other initiatives: Found success growing communities elsewhere or focused time/resources on higher ROI areas of business.
• Lost interest: Didn‘t have the bandwidth or passion for social media marketing anymore after a break.
• Achieved intended outcome: If deactivating to protest policies or incite change, the desired impact was reached.
• Forgotten: Out of sight, out of mind. Moving on meant letting the page fade into the digital abyss.

The moral here is have a plan upfront for how long you intend your page to deactivate. Odds tilt against pages reemerging after ~3 months based on the numbers.

Finally, let‘s wrap up with some key takeaways for strategically managing Facebook page pauses and transitions…

Key Guidance for Deactivating and Reactivating Pages

To recap advice from my years analyzing social media trends for businesses:

• Treat deactivation as a sabbatical, not end: Position any hiatus with clear limitations around length and purpose so you revisit the decision.

• Download archived copies pre-deactivation: Back up page content digitally before disabling public view as an added safeguard.

• Redirect fans during deactivation: Create an interim landing page guiding visitors to other owned sites/profiles that remain active so you don’t lose touch.

• Set calendar reminders to reassess: Schedule reviews every month or quarter to determine if extending deactivation or reactivating makes sense.

The life cycles of Facebook pages often mirror their owners’ evolving priorities. That’s expected. With mindful planning, you can deactivate dormant pages as needed while keeping your options open long term.

I hope these best practices give you flexibility managing the ups and downs in your social media presence. Never hesitate to reach out with other questions!