Facebook does not let you transfer ownership of a personal profile. Instead, you nominate one trusted Facebook friend as your “legacy contact.” If you manage a business, community or creator Page, you must arrange its succession separately.
1. Decide what should happen to your personal profile
You have two choices:
- Memorialise it so friends and family can continue viewing and remembering you.
- Permanently delete it after Facebook is notified of your death.
To preserve your profile, choose memorialisation and appoint a legacy contact.
2. Nominate your legacy contact
In the Facebook app or website:
1. Open Settings & privacy.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Accounts Centre.
4. Select Personal details.
5. Select Account ownership and control.
6. Select Memorialisation.
7. Choose your Facebook profile.
8. Select Memorialise account.
9. Select Legacy contact.
10. Choose the Facebook friend you want to appoint.
11. Follow the prompts to confirm your selection.
Facebook’s menu wording can vary slightly. If you cannot find this setting, search Facebook Settings for “memorialisation” or use Meta’s official Legacy contacts guidance.
Ask the person before appointing them. You can only nominate one legacy contact, and they must have a Facebook account and be your Facebook friend.
3. Choose whether they may download your content
If Facebook presents this option, allow your legacy contact to download a copy of the content you shared.
This can help preserve your photographs, posts, videos and profile information. It does not give them access to your private messages.
Your legacy contact may be able to:
- Write and pin a tribute or final announcement.
- Respond to new friend requests.
- Change your profile and cover photographs.
- Download permitted shared content if you enabled that option.
- Request deletion of the memorialised account.
They cannot:
- Sign in as you.
- Read your Messenger conversations.
- Edit or delete your old posts.
- Remove existing friends.
- Continue operating the profile as though they were you.
These restrictions are explained in Facebook’s official legacy contact information.
4. Tell the person and record your wishes
Give your legacy contact clear written guidance covering:
- Whether you want your profile memorialised or eventually deleted.
- Whether you want a final announcement posted.
- Which profile and cover photographs should remain.
- Whether you want them to download your shared content.
- Which photographs or posts are especially important to your family.
- Who should be consulted before major decisions are made.
Record the person’s full name and Facebook profile in your digital legacy plan. Tell your executor and a close family member where that plan is stored.
Do not give anyone your Facebook password. Facebook does not permit your legacy contact to sign in as you, and sharing the password creates privacy and security risks.
5. Preserve important content yourself
Do not depend on Facebook as the only home for valuable memories.
While signed in:
1. Open Settings & privacy and then Settings.
2. Go to Accounts Centre.
3. Select Your information and permissions.
4. Choose Download your information.
5. Select the Facebook profile and information you want.
6. Choose an appropriate date range, file format and media quality.
7. Create and download the file.
8. Store a copy somewhere secure and accessible to your executor or nominated family member.
Keep particularly important photographs and videos in a separately backed-up folder. Review the backup periodically.
6. Make it possible for Facebook to act later
Your family or legacy contact will need to notify Facebook of your death and request memorialisation. Facebook may require evidence such as an obituary, memorial notice or death certificate.
Make sure your digital legacy plan states:
- Your exact Facebook profile name and profile link.
- That you have appointed a legacy contact.
- Whether you want memorialisation or deletion.
- Who should submit the request to Facebook.
- Where acceptable evidence can be obtained.
Once memorialised, Facebook generally places “Remembering” beside the person’s name, preserves existing content according to its original privacy audience and prevents anyone from signing into the account. See Meta’s memorialised accounts explanation.
7. If you mean a Facebook Page rather than your profile
A legacy contact does not automatically inherit control of a business, community or creator Page. Add the intended successor to the Page now:
1. Sign in to Facebook.
2. Select your profile photograph.
3. Select See all profiles.
4. Switch into the relevant Page.
5. Select the Page’s profile photograph.
6. Open Settings & privacy, then Settings.
7. Select Page setup.
8. Select Page access.
9. Under People with Facebook access, select Add New.
10. Choose the trusted person.
11. Give them full control if you want them to be able to manage access and continue operating the Page.
12. Enter your password when asked.
13. Ask the person to accept the invitation.
14. Return to Page access and verify that their access is active.
Only give full control to someone you trust completely. A person with full control may be able to add or remove other people and delete the Page. Facebook explains the permissions in its Page access guidance and provides instructions for adding or removing Page access.
If the Page is connected to Meta Business Suite, an Instagram account, advertising accounts or payment systems, add the successor to those assets separately as well.
This is particularly important because Facebook says a Page with only one administrator may be removed if that administrator’s account is memorialised and Facebook receives a valid request.
Your final checklist
- Decide between memorialisation and deletion.
- Ask your chosen person to act as your legacy contact.
- Nominate them in Facebook.
- Enable content downloading if offered.
- Download and back up your important Facebook content.
- Record your profile link and wishes in your digital legacy plan.
- Tell your executor and family who you appointed.
- Add a second person with full control to every Facebook Page you manage.
- Check connected Instagram, Meta Business and advertising accounts.
- Review everything annually or whenever your relationships change.
In Australia, including these wishes in your estate-planning records is helpful, but Facebook’s settings and platform rules still determine what can happen on Facebook. If a Page forms part of a business or earns income, its intellectual property and business ownership should also be addressed with an Australian estate-planning lawyer.