- Can you merge two Facebook accounts?
- What you can merge: Facebook Pages
- How to consolidate two accounts by hand
- Deactivate or delete the spare account?
- Don't lose your Pages and groups
- What about additional profiles?
- If you can't log in to the old account
- Why Facebook doesn't allow duplicate accounts anyway
- My verdict
- Frequently asked questions
You can't merge two Facebook accounts: Facebook's help says it doesn't currently offer a way to combine personal accounts, so friends, photos and posts can't be moved across. You can merge two Facebook Pages if you're an admin of both and they represent the same thing, and for duplicate accounts, keep one and close the other.
Plenty of people end up with two Facebook accounts: an old one they lost the password to, a work one and a personal one, or a duplicate made by accident. The natural question is how to combine them. The honest answer is that Facebook doesn't let you. Here's what Facebook does allow, how to move what you can by hand, and how to close the spare account without losing anything important.
Can you merge two Facebook accounts?
No. Facebook's help says plainly that it doesn't currently offer a way to merge two Facebook accounts. There's no tool to combine friends lists, photos, posts or messages from one personal account into another, and anyone offering to do it for you should be treated with suspicion.
What you can merge: Facebook Pages
Business Pages follow different rules. Facebook says you can merge two Pages if you're an admin of both, they represent the same thing, and they have similar names, along with other requirements. So if you have two business Pages for the same company, merging them is possible. Two personal profiles can't be, however alike they look.
| Question | Personal accounts | Business Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Can they be merged? | No | Yes, if you meet Facebook's conditions |
| What carries over | Nothing automatically | Facebook combines them into one |
| Requirements | Not applicable | Admin of both, same thing, similar names |
How to consolidate two accounts by hand
- Pick the account to keep. Usually the one with the most friends, the right name and the email you use.
- Send friend requests from the account you're keeping to the friends you want from the other one.
- Download your data from the account you're closing, so you keep a copy of photos and posts.
- Re-upload the photos you care about to the account you're keeping.
- Move Page and group roles. Add your kept account as an admin of any Pages or groups the old account runs, before closing it.
- Tell people. Post on the old account that you're moving, so friends know which one is real.
- Close the old account once everything's moved.
Deactivate or delete the spare account?
Facebook draws a clear line. Deactivating is reversible, and while an account is deactivated people can't see your timeline or search for you. Deleting is permanent: Facebook says once an account is deleted you can't regain access. If you're not sure you've moved everything, deactivate first, live with the single account for a few weeks, then delete the spare.
Don't lose your Pages and groups
This is the step people miss. If the account you're closing is the only admin of a Page or group, closing it can leave that Page or group without anyone in charge. Add your remaining account as an admin first, check it has full control, and only then deactivate or delete the old one.
What about additional profiles?
Facebook used to let people create extra profiles under one account. Its help now says you can no longer create additional profiles, though existing ones aren't affected. So if you were hoping to fold a second account into your main one as an additional profile, that route isn't available either.
If you can't log in to the old account
A common reason for two accounts is losing access to the first one. If you can still recover it, do that before anything else, because you can't move friends or photos out of an account you can't open. Use Facebook's account recovery with the old email address or phone number. If recovery fails and the old account is just sitting there, it isn't harming your new one; focus on rebuilding on the account you can use, and tell friends which one is current.
Why Facebook doesn't allow duplicate accounts anyway
Facebook expects each person to have one personal account in their real name. Running two personal accounts can lead to one being flagged, so consolidating isn't just tidier, it's safer, and it means friends always know where to find you. For business, the right structure is one personal account that manages your Pages, not a second personal account for work.
Before closing anything, check where you're logged in on Facebook on both accounts, and if you're reconnecting with people from the old account, my guide to finding old Facebook friends speeds that up.
My verdict
Facebook won't merge personal accounts, so don't waste time looking for the button. Choose one account, move friends, photos and admin roles across by hand, deactivate the spare, and delete it once you're sure. Business Pages are the exception: if you're an admin of both and they're the same business, Facebook can merge those.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I merge two Facebook accounts?
No. Facebook says it doesn't currently offer a way to merge two accounts.
Can I merge two Facebook Pages?
Yes, if you're an admin of both, they represent the same thing and have similar names.
How do I move friends from one Facebook account to another?
Send friend requests from the account you're keeping. There's no automatic transfer.
Should I deactivate or delete my second Facebook account?
Deactivate first. Delete only once you're sure you've moved everything, because deletion is permanent.
What happens to Pages run by the account I close?
Add your remaining account as an admin before closing the old one, or the Page could be left without an admin.
Can I keep photos from the account I'm closing?
Yes. Download your data from that account first, then re-upload the photos you want to the account you're keeping.
Will anyone offer to merge my accounts for me?
Treat any offer to merge personal accounts with suspicion. Facebook says it doesn't offer merging, so no one can do it legitimately.
Can I turn a second account into an additional profile?
Facebook says you can no longer create additional profiles.
