Facebook data transfer tool just made it easier to quit the social network

By Eric Abent/Aug. 9, 2021 9:14 am EST

Facebook today announced that it has rebuilt its Transfer Your Information tool to make it easier for mobile users to transfer their data off the website. In addition, Facebook is adding support for two new destinations: Photobucket and Google Calendar. The fact that Google Calendar is a new destination probably gives this away, but Facebook now also allows you to move Event information off the website.

In a blog post today, Facebook says that the Transfer Your Information tool has been "completely rebuilt" to be easier to use and more intuitive. On Twitter, Facebook's Alexandru Voica elaborates that this redesign was made with mobile users in mind, as he says, "98.3% of Facebook users are on mobile devices when accessing the platform."

Today, we're excited to announce updates to our Transfer Your Information tool, two new destinations allowing users to transfer data to PhotoBucket and Google Calendar and support for events data: https://t.co/Mdx7iEBp2Y

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— Alexandru Voica 💀 (@alexvoica) August 9, 2021

Facebook also says that users can now start multiple transfers at once to the same destination. The company has also rolled out filters that allow users to be more specific when choosing data to transfer, and finally, the new tool should make it easier to see the status of each in-progress transfer.

You can find the redesigned Transfer Your Information tool by going into Facebook settings, selecting "Your Facebook Information," and then selecting "Transfer a copy of your information." The addition of Google Calendar as a transfer destination and Events as transferrable data are big ones indeed because they essentially allow Facebook users to keep their Events information synced with Google Calendar (though in a roundabout sort of way). Not only that, but for some, Events may have been the final hurdle to deleting their Facebook account, and this solves that issue.

In comparison, the addition of Photobucket as a transfer destination doesn't seem quite as exciting, but it's always nice to have options when it comes to stashing photos. These new transfer options should be going live in the app today, so if you're a Google Calendar user looking to consolidate your upcoming event information, be sure to take it for a spin.