How can you delete your Instagram account?

If you’ve made the decision to delete Instagram, it’s not as quick or easy as it should be, whether it’s because you’ve exceeded the need for a certain finsta or because its parent company Meta has sparked controversy again. Until recently, it wasn’t even possible from the Instagram app.

Go ahead and take a moment to enforce an “I’m deleting Instagram” post if you want. After that, you have two ways for it.

Delete Instagram using iOS or Android App

Of course, the easiest way would be the Instagram app on your phone, but currently this option is not available to everyone. To check if it is, go to your profile, tap the hamburger menu in the top right and select Settings. Then go to Account and scroll to the bottom of the menu. Below the “Branded Content” button, you can see the “Delete Account” button.

If it does, tapping on it will open a menu asking if you want to delete or deactivate your account – you can read more about these other options in the “Temporarily suspending your Instagram account” section of this how-to section. Pressing the “Delete account” button will display a message saying that you can stop the deletion until a certain date if you sign in again. Tap the red “Continue deleting account” button and the app will walk you through the rest. period.

If you don’t have the “Delete Account” option, you can try as follows on the web.

Delete Instagram on the web

If you can’t use the app to delete your account, you need to follow these steps to delete your account – they can be tracked using a computer or phone as long as you use a browser.

• First, you will need to go to Instagram’s special account removal request page, can be found hereor by following the link on Instagram account deletion help article. If you haven’t signed in to Instagram for the web (most people won’t), you will need to enter your credentials. In fact, it’s very likely that you’ll enter your password twice during the deletion process, so now might be a good time to make sure you know what the password is.

• You should reach a page with the old Instagram logo and a drop-down menu asking why you want to delete your account. Depending on which option you choose, various links to the Instagram help center that promises to fix your problems or a message reminding you to check which account you deleted may be shown.
• Whichever you choose, there will be a box below the links asking you to re-enter your password. Once you’ve done that, tap or click the button that says “Delete (your account name)” and confirm you’re sure.

As Instagram has said several times on its delete account page, your data will not be deleted immediately – Meta will keep it around for 30 days. However, your profile and posts will be hidden on the site.

If you’re leaving Instagram completely, don’t forget to uninstall the app from your phone as well. Doing so will save you some space and will also create some friction between you re-registering to the service.

How to undelete your Instagram account

Note that if it’s been more than 30 days since you asked Instagram to delete it, you won’t be able to restore your account. You will need to re-create your account (your username will be released after your account is deleted, but it may have been taken by someone).

However, if you are within this 30-day period, you can get your account back along with their posts and DMs. To do this, go back to Instagram and log in with your credentials. You will see a message requesting deletion of your account and the date your data will be deleted. To prevent this from happening, simply press the “Keep Account” button.

Temporarily suspending your Instagram account

If you want to remove your account from public view but do not want to permanently delete all your photos and messages, you can suspend your account instead.

Again, Meta lets you use the web version of Instagram instead of the app, but at least you don’t need to get a link from a help article.

• Once you’re logged into Instagram.com, go to your profile and click the Edit Profile button (if you’re using a mobile browser you’ll have to tap the settings cog to see the option).
• From there, go to “Edit Profile” > “Temporarily disable my account” (there will be an option at the bottom). As with deleting your account, you must choose your reason for suspending your account and enter your password.

To reactivate your account, simply sign in again using the app or website. You can only suspend your account once a week, so if you accidentally log back into your profile, your posts will be back online and visible to followers, at least for a while.

Update February 8, 2022, 5:25 pm ET: This article was originally published on November 17, 2021. Updated to add instructions to delete your account via the app.