When you need a break from work or studying, social networks are a popular place to find yourself in. Facebook in particular does a good job at helping you kill a few hours of time. It’s not just about socializing anymore. Now you can use Facebook as a job search board, money sending app, or a gaming platform.
If you ever played games on Facebook, you probably ran into an issue of resetting your progress and starting a new game. Since most games are only hosted on Facebook and have their own developers that keep your game data, this process is not as straightforward as it should be.
Learn how to manage your games, delete Facebook game data, and reinstall a game to start over on Facebook.
How To Restart a Facebook Game
Almost every online game today has an option to delete game data and start over in the game settings. However, Facebook games are a little different. Most games will only show you gameplay settings like sound and animation on/off, or an option to buy extra resources for playing.
In order to reset your game on Facebook, you’ll have to delete it and the associated Facebook game data, and then add it to your account again. If that falls through, there are a few more things you can do to start the game over.
Remove The Game From Your Facebook Account
There are two ways to delete a game and all of the Facebook game data from your account. The more obvious path is through the Games section of the app.
- Open Facebook on your computer.
- From the menu on the left side of the window, choose Games.
- Select the Your Games tab.
- Find the game you’d like to start over and click the Settings wheel icon.
- Scroll down till Remove This App section and click Remove.
- You’ll get a warning window with the information on deleting the game and game data from Facebook. Here you can also choose to delete all posts, videos, or events that the game posted on your timeline.
Alternatively, you can do it through Facebook Settings.
- Open Facebook and click the down arrow on the top right corner of your window.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Scroll down till you see Apps and websites in the left side menu.
- In Apps and websites, choose the game you want to remove and click the box next to it.
- Click Remove to delete the game from your account.
Reinstall The Game On Facebook
Now that you’ve removed the game from your account, Facebook should also delete your Facebook game data. Once you re-add the game, you should be able to start over.
Either put the game title in the search bar on Facebook, go to the Find Games tab to locate it, or visit the game’s official Facebook page to find it. When you start playing the game, Facebook will automatically re-add it to your account. You can then find it under Your Games tab in the Games section.
Contact The Game Developer
If you deleted the game, then re-added it to your Facebook account and found that your old game is still there, there are a few more things you can try.
Most games on Facebook have an option to contact the game developers. You can send your questions in either by email, direct Facebook message, or using the game’s fan page on the network. Message the developers and see if there’s a way to delete your Facebook game data and start over that is specific to the game you’re playing.
Use a Different Facebook Account
While the previous steps should generally help you delete your saved game progress, some games tie game data to your Facebook account. That means simply deleting the game and re-adding it later won’t be enough to start over.
A simple solution here is to use a different Facebook account to play the game from the beginning. You can even create a separate Facebook account dedicated to gaming. To restart your game, add it in your new Facebook account and start playing.
How To Turn Off Game & App Notifications On Facebook
Even if you’re playing Facebook games together with your friends, you don’t want the annoying game notifications popping up on their feed. Instead, you can set up your privacy settings to prevent apps from posting your game activity on your or your friend’s wall.
First of all, when you add a game to your Facebook account, you can review what information you provide and choose whether to accept it or restrict the app’s access to your personal data.
In case you missed that pop-up window or didn’t pay attention to it, you can always go to the Facebook Settings > Settings & Privacy > Apps and websites to manage what information you’re sharing with each app.
To turn off Facebook game notifications completely, in Apps and websites scroll down till you see Preferences. On the right side, find Game and App Notifications,click Edit and then Turn Off. That should help you hide your Facebook activity when playing games.
Use Facebook To Entertain Yourself
There used to be a time when people went on Facebook to see what their friends were up to. Now it’s less about socializing and more about entertaining yourself. Facebook games are a big part of that. From FarmVille to Scrabble – Facebook has a great deal of fun games that you can play for free.
Have you ever had trouble trying to delete Facebook game data? Do you ever run into similar problems to the ones discussed in the article? Share your experience with us in the comments below.