Archive a post when you want to keep it privately and the platform offers an archive. Change its audience when you want to keep sharing it with fewer people. Delete it when you no longer want the original on that account. Treat Hide as a separate question: hiding an item from one view may leave it available elsewhere.
Archive a memory you want to keep privately
Facebook describes its archive as a place for posts you want to retain for yourself rather than show to others on Facebook. A personal photograph you still want, but no longer want displayed, fits that purpose. Archiving remains a platform feature; it is different from having an independent downloaded copy.
Read Meta's explanation of archiving and trash
Check that an archive option exists for the item you are reviewing. A setting for your own posts does not establish the same option for comments, reactions or another platform's content. If you want a copy outside the account, download it separately before making permanent changes.
Hide from profile is not the same as remove from Facebook
Facebook's Help Center says Hide from profile removes a post from your profile, rather than from Facebook. This matters when someone else's post is on your profile: changing your profile display does not give you ownership of their original. If the goal is to stop people accessing the content, check the original post and its audience.
Read Facebook's explanation of removing or hiding profile posts
Change the audience when you still want to share
Audience controls answer who can read a post, rather than whether you want to retain it. For example, X says protected posts are visible to followers, and followers can still capture and share images of them. Protecting an account is not a way to take back copies people already saved.
For a personal update you still want friends to read, an available audience setting may fit better than deletion. Check who remains in that audience. On X, existing followers still have access after protection unless you remove their access through the available controls.
Read X's public and protected posts guidance
Delete an original you no longer want on the account
X says deleting your post removes it from your account, followers' timelines and X search. It also explains the limit: text copied into another person's post and material cached or cross-posted outside X are separate copies. Removing the original does not remove every reproduction.
Read what X says happens after deletion
Why a deleted post can still appear in Google
Read the confirmation before proceeding. Some actions have a trash or recovery stage; others may be permanent. Do not assume a recovery period from one platform applies to another. After the change, reopen the original or check its access rather than relying only on a submitted-action message.
Make the choice before starting a cleanup
For each item, decide whether you want to keep a copy, who should still see it and whether the original should remain on the account. Then choose the control that meets those aims. A profile that looks tidy and content that is no longer accessible are different results, so check the result you actually wanted.