Wednesday, March 28, 2012

How to Remove / Delete / Disable / Deactivate Facebook Timeline

Thanks for the tips TIM!!


 Overview of How to Remove / Disable Facebook Timeline

If you have got Facebook Timeline and want to change back to viewing the old style profile pages, or if you haven't got Timeline yet, but just want to view your friend's Timeline pages in the old style profile format, this guide is for you.


Currently, if you visit a Facebook Timeline page, with a browser that identifies itself as "Internet Explorer 7", you will be shown the old style profile page for that person, instead of their Timeline page. This is because Facebook haven't yet created a version of Timeline that works with IE7.

When you visit a website, your web browser sends it an identification code, known as the "User Agent", which lets the site know what web browser you are using. This method for disabling timeline works by changing your current browser's "User Agent" to IE7 and tricking Facebook into showing you the old style profile pages.

Guide to Remove / Disable Facebook Timeline

The method for setting the User Agent to IE7 for the following browsers are listed below : Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome GOOGLE CHROME

To change Google Chrome's User Agent you first need to download the appropriate file below, depending on what Operating System you are using. The content of the file is basically the command listed below in the pale blue box.

Chrome on Windows 7 or Windows Vista

If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 the command in the file that will run Chrome with IE7 as the user agent is as follows : "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --user-agent="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)"
  1. Download ("Right Click" the link, select "Save link as..." and save the .bat file to your "Desktop")
  2. Next Install the F.B. Purity browser extension, as it will fix a lot of the display glitches that will occur when you have your browser set to impersonate IE7.
  3. Close *all* open Chrome browser Windows and Tabs, then click the previously downloaded .bat file and it will run Chrome with "IE7" as its "user agent".
  4. Now visit a Timeline page, and you will see that it is now displayed as a normal, old style profile page. BTW If at any point, you want to go back to using the normal User Agent, just close all Chrome windows and then open Chrome using your usual Chrome Icon, instead of the Bat file.
  5. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
Now click here for further important information on this process.

Chrome on Windows XP

If you are running Windows XP the command in the file to start Chrome with IE7 as the UserAgent is as follows "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --user-agent="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)"
  1. Download ("Right Click" the link, select "Save link as..." and save the .bat file to your Desktop)
  2. Next Install the F.B. Purity browser extension, as it will fix a lot of the display glitches that will occur when you have your browser set to impersonate IE7.
  3. Close *all* open Chrome browser Windows then click the previously downloaded .bat file and it will run Chrome with the IE7 user agent.
  4. Now visit a Timeline page, and you will see that it is now displayed as a normal, old style profile page. BTW If at any point, you want to go back to using the normal User Agent, just close all Chrome windows and then open Chrome using your usual Chrome Icon, instead of the Bat file.
  5. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
Now click here for further important information on this process.

Chrome on Mac OS X

If you are running Mac OS X the command you need to enter in Terminal to run chrome with IE7 as the user agent is as follows: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --user-agent="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)"
The command should all be on one line (its broken over multiple lines here, because of the width restriction)
I've created an app that will run the code above, so you dont need to do it manually, thereby making it simpler for you to run Chrome with IE7 as the user agent.
  1. Download ("Right Click" the link and save it to your Desktop)
  2. After you have downloaded the .zip file, click it and it will unzip the App
  3. Next Install the F.B. Purity browser extension, as it will fix a lot of the display glitches that will occur when you have your browser set to impersonate IE7.
  4. Now Close *all* open Chrome windows, and click the App file that you have previously unzipped, (it has a chrome icon with IE7 written on it) this will run Chrome with IE7 as the user agent
  5. Now visit a Timeline page, and you will see that it is now displayed as a normal, old style profile page. BTW If at any point, you want to go back to using the normal User Agent, just close all Chrome windows and then open Chrome using your usual Chrome Icon, instead of the Chrome-IE7 app icon.
  6. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
Now click here for further important information on this process.

Chrome on Linux

If you are running Linux, the command you need to run is most probably be something like this: /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --user-agent="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)" But i expect it would be slightly different in each Linux distribution. (If you know the command for a specific distribution of Linux, please share it in the comments below) The command should all be on one line (its broken over multiple lines here, because of the width restriction). I dont have Linux, so i cant create a shortcut file for you, you will have to figure out how to do it yourself.

Please Note: Running Chrome with the spoofed useragent is only temporary, and it will only have the IE7 user agent when you start Chrome with the downloaded Bat File. To revert back to normal Chrome, just close all Chrome windows, then run Chrome from your usual shortcut / icon as you normally would and its User Agent will return to normal.


Firefox FIREFOX (Windows, Mac or Linux)


Its easy to switch Firefox's User Agent to IE7, the steps are as follows
  1. Install the "User Agent Switcher" Extension from addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/
  2. Install the F.B. Purity browser extension, as it will fix most of the display glitches that occur when you switch the browser's User Agent to IE7, and it also has a lot of other cool and useful features for customising Facebook.
  3. Go to Firefox's "Tools/User Agent Switcher/Internet Explorer" menu and select "Internet Explorer 7"

    How to Set User Agent to Internet Explorer 7 in Firefox
  4. Now go and view a Timeline page, it will be displayed in the old Profile format. BTW If you want to at any point switch the User Agent back to normal, just set the User Agent to "Default User Agent" or else just disable the "User Agent Switcher" extension.
  5. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
Now click here for further important information on this process.



Safari SAFARI (Mac or Windows)


  1. Install the F.B. Purity browser extension, this will fix most of the display glitches that occur on Facebook when you use the IE7 User Agent, and it also has a lot of other cool and useful features for customising Facebook.
  2. To switch the User Agent in Safari, you need to first go into the "Preferences" menu, select "Advanced", then tick the "Show Develop menu in menu bar" option, then exit the preferences menu.
  3. Now click the page icon menu (next to the cog wheel icon) then select the "develop/user agent" menu, there you can choose the useragent you wish to use for the current website you are viewing. Select Internet Explorer 7.

    Configuring Safari's User Agent
  4. Now view any Facebook Timeline page, and it will be displayed in the old style Profile format.
  5. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
N.B. If you want to restore your User Agent to normal in Safari, just follow Steps 1 and 2 again, but this time select the "Default" user agent
Now click here for further important information on this process.



Opera OPERA (Windows, Mac or Linux)


  1. Install the FB Purity browser extension, which will fix some of the display problems that arise when you set your browser to impersonate IE7, it also gives you lots of options for hiding spam and other news stories and facebook features that you dont want to see.
  2. To set the custom user agent in Opera, enter "opera:config#ISP|Id" into the url/address bar, then enter the Custom User Agent string "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)" and click "Save"
    How to Set User Agent to Internet Explorer 7 in Opera
  3. Restart your browser and view your profile page, or anyone else who has Timeline's profile page, and it will display it in the old Profile format
  4. Please click the "like" button below, and also share the link to this page with all your friends, that way they will also be able to view your Timeline page in the old style Profile format:
N.B. If you want to restore your User Agent to normal in Opera, just follow the first part of step 1 again, and then click the "Default" button then click "Save"
Now click here for further important information on this process.



Internet Explorer INTERNET EXPLORER (Windows)


If you are using Internet Explorer 7 you wont be seeing Timeline anyway, you will just see the old style Facebook profiles (though you should really upgrade your browser to a more modern one for extra security and compatibility). If you are using Internet Explorer 8 or 9, you are out of luck and I recommend you upgrade your browser by installing either Chrome or Firefox and then follow the steps outlined above for the specific browser you have chosen to install. The reason for this is Internet Explorer is not a good web browser, which is why Facebook have not bothered to make Timeline work with it.

Test whether you have successfully disabled Timeline in your browser

You can check if the process has worked as Facebook should display a message saying you need to Upgrade Your Browser, you can ignore that and click the X to close that window, you should now try viewing a Timeline page, if you have followed the instructions correctly, the page should now display in the old style Profile format. If it hasnt worked for you, try again, but be careful to follow the instructions exactly, otherwise the method wont work for you. If you still cant get it to work, try using the method for one of the other browsers in the guide or ask a more technically minded friend to help you with it.

Important Note - Please Read!

One downside of running a browser with the IE7 useragent is that some parts of the facebook site may not display correctly, also certain other sites might have issues, for instance if you go to the install page on fbpurity.com it will think u are using IE and tell you to download Chrome or firefox, though if you click the browser button of the real browser you are using, it will present you with the correct version of FBP.
If you do have problems when visiting other sites and find they wont work with the IE7 User Agent, one solution would be to run 2 different web browsers at the same time, one with the User Agent set to IE7 just for browsing Facebook and the other with its normal user agent for browsing the rest of the web. For example you could use Firefox with UA set to IE7 for browsing Facebook and use Chrome for browsing the rest of the web, or vice versa if you prefer. The other solution is to just reset your browser's user-agent to the Default setting when you visit sites that dont work with IE7.

If after enabling the IE7 useragent in your browser, you see any big gaps at the top of facebook pages, between the header and the page content and also small comment boxes, make sure you have the latest version of FB Purity installed, as that will get rid of the gap and fix the size of the comment boxes, and if the gap does show up again, just reload your page, and it should go back to normal.

Another important point is that though the Timeline will be disabled when you view it, other people will still see your page in the Timeline format. If you want others to see your page in the old style format, you need to share the link to this page with all your facebook friends ( ), so they will also have the solution to disabling timeline and be able to view your page and others in the old style profile format too.
*Update* This method does not work on the new "Brand Page" Timeline pages, it only works on the Personal Timeline pages of normal Facebook users.

BTW if you hate Timeline and would like to complain directly to Facebook about it, you can do so via Facebook's Official Timeline Feedback form


I hope this helps you, Cheers!




(more tutorials at Sabah Technology page -http://www.facebook.com/sabahtech ... do support that page if any of these method is working~)


Aki : In case if you're wondering, yeah, Aki is one of Sabah Tech page admin.. ^_^.v..

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Elih Japahar said...

Baguslah ko share ni Aki, makasih arr..mau remove timelines ni, bikin panas oo kan..

Va Va Voom said...

argghh sa bingung ketara kurenggg sikit kalo pasal2 benda mcm ni...anyway thanks for sharing Aki..nanti sa suruh kawan sa yg bising2 pasal timeline pi check disini.

Misya Mialen said...

tq for sharing aki. maka, aku pening kepala baca fb org yg guna timeline. lmbt btul loading.

Blackswan said...

Alamak, I've just switched to timeline yesterday. Lol! This tutorial is just great to revert to the old version. But what happens when FB goes live with timeline this Apr 3? Still works, dear? Thks!

Fadzmie said...

Kalau untuk profile, saya tidak berapa kisah kalau orang pakai timeline. Tapi kalau fanpage, susah ni. :|

Tony said...

Thanks for the tip but I think it's better we embrace the changes

colourless opinions™

Unknown said...

hell yeah! it really worked out. haha.. but i already uninstalled it back. im getting used to that so called timeline. hoho.. btw, nice tips aki.. there's another way to disable it previously but then people still see your profile as timeline. only the owner view it as the old profile.. meaningless. haha... :D

Rose Flower said...

Nasib sia tia switch p 'timeline' nda payah paning2 kepala

Writing From Far said...

mcm complicated tul oh step dia ..heheh

Wen said...

complicatednya..nasb baik fb sa bukan timeline..

kay masingan said...

nasib baik saya x p kasi timeline fb saya. Ramai kawan2 saya yg timeline mau tukar balik p tatapan biasa tu..

Okayarms said...

It seems that there are a lot of people wanting to change their FB back to the previous one. Why a. Is it that bad, or complicated?

Oya, happy weekend, Mr Aki!

beaty said...

jarang sa buka fb skg aki..n sa pun inda tau suda ni mcm mana mau set fb smua tu yang baru punya

Camy said...

wowww. very useful. but i'm already used to timeline :X

StellaClaire-Richard said...

Ok juga ba tu timeline. Ramai org tidak suka, but i found it interesting juga ba..:D

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