You can now delete your old Facebook posts in bulk – here’s how

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If you’ve ever tried to remove old Facebook posts, you know the pain of scrolling through your timeline to delete those posts individually. It’s a lot of effort, especially if you’ve had your Facebook account for years. You’ll soon be able to delete all those embarrassing Facebook posts more simply, as there’s a new tool being rolled out – Manage Activity.

Once available to your account, you’ll be able to remove old Facebook posts without hours of scrolling. That’s good news since everyone from potential employers to potential dates scan your timeline to see if any red flags turn up. You wouldn’t want to lose something you’ve worked hard for due to an off-color joke you told years ago before you learned better (we really hope you learned better).

Here’s how the Manage Activity tool works

Once Facebook rolls out the feature to your account, you’ll be able to delete your posts en masse. Finally! You might have to wait to use the feature though, as it’s rolling out to the Facebook and Facebook Lite mobile apps first.

Once it’s active, it’s simple to remove posts:

1. Open your Activity Log (found under Settings & Privacy)
2. Tap on the Manage Activity button next to the Filters at the top of your Activity Log
3. That’ll show you all your posts in chronological order, so you can manage your content
4. Use the Filters to narrow down the posts you want to remove
5. Tap on the Checkboxes next to the posts, then decide if you want to Archive or Trash
6. Archive hides the post from your timeline but still keeps the post. Trash removes them permanently (after 30 days, so you have time to change your mind)

Until Facebook rolls the Manage Activity tool out to your account, you can still delete posts from your page using the existing Manage Posts button. This sits below the Create Post section of your page and lets you select up to 50 posts at a time to delete.

Image: KnowTechie

Manage Activity is coming to the mobile Facebook and Facebook Lite apps first. Desktop-only users will have to wait even longer, with Facebook only making some vague promises of “in the future.” Nice way to push everyone to the tracker-filled mobile apps, I guess.

What do you think? Do you see yourself using this feature? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.