Managing Your Digital Legacy: How to Set Up a Legacy Contact on Facebook

In our increasingly connected world, planning for your digital assets is just as crucial as organizing legal documents, financial accounts, and personal records. Social media profiles often turn into virtual gathering spaces where friends and family share memories after a loved one passes away. To help users decide how their digital presence should be managed, Facebook offers a designated Legacy Contact feature. Available to users aged 18 and above, this tool lets you assign a trusted Facebook friend to look after your profile once it is officially memorialized. Taking a few minutes to set this up eliminates confusion for your loved ones during a difficult time.

What a Legacy Contact Can and Cannot Do

Assigning a Legacy Contact does not mean giving someone total control or full access to your personal account. Facebook strictly limits their management permissions to protect your privacy while preserving your online memories:

• What They Can Do: A designated contact can write a pinned tribute post (such as sharing memorial service details), respond to new friend requests, update your profile picture and cover photo, and manage tribute posts on your wall. If you grant explicit permission, they can also download an archive of the photos, posts, and profile information you shared.
  
• What They Cannot Do: A Legacy Contact cannot log in directly as you, read your private Direct Messages (DMs), delete existing past posts, or remove current friends from your account.
  

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Setting up your Legacy Contact can be completed in just a few minutes using either the Facebook mobile app or a desktop browser:

1. Open Facebook Settings: Open Facebook, tap or click your profile icon in the top corner, and select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
   
2. Access Accounts Centre: Click on Accounts Centre, then select Personal Details followed by Account ownership and control.
   
3. Select Memorialisation: Tap Memorialisation, choose your primary Facebook profile, and tap Next.
   
4. Choose Your Contact: In the search field, type the name of the Facebook friend you wish to designate and select their profile from the list.
   
5. Adjust Permissions & Notify: Decide whether to give them permission to download your shared content archive. Finally, choose whether to send an automated message letting them know they have been selected.