How do i erase my instagram
How to Delete an Instagram Account (The Easy Way)
How to delete an Instagram account on iOS
How to delete an Instagram account on Android
How to delete an Instagram account on your computer
When should you delete your Instagram account?
Decided Instagram isn’t the best fit for your business? No sweat. Unlike real life, there’s an undo button: you can delete your Instagram account permanently.
Before you delete, consider backing up your account data in case you need it. Be aware the data will be a computer-readable HTML or JSON format, not individual profile photos, videos, comments, etc.
Ready? Here’s how to delete your Instagram account in the app, from a computer, or via mobile web browser.
Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
How to delete an Instagram account on iOS
Step 1: Go to your account in the Instagram app. Then, tap the menu icon (3 lines) in the top right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Navigate to Settings, then Account.
Step 3: Tap Delete account.
Instagram will suggest deactivating instead of deleting. Deactivation hides your account and is reversible anytime. If you still want to permanently delete the Instagram account, go ahead and tap Delete account.
Step 3: Confirm deletion.
Instagram will ask you AGAIN… You’re sure about this, right?
Step 4: Confirm… again.
Instagram draws out the process, which you could argue is either annoying, or a good thing to prevent accidental deletions and angry users.
Instagram asks why you want to delete it. Your answer is mandatory and so is entering your password.
Clicking the Delete @username button on this page will permanently delete your account.
Your account won’t be visible on Instagram anymore but you have 30 days to reverse your decision and reactivate it. After that it’s real-real gone.
How to delete an Instagram account on Android
For whatever odd reason, the native Instagram app on Android currently doesn’t allow you to delete an account like it does in the iPhone version. It’s weird, but no sweat, just open up a browser and follow the directions below.
How to delete an Instagram account on your computer
If you don’t have access to the app on your current phone or you’re an Android user, you can also delete your Instagram account from any web browser.
The steps below also work for mobile browsers (e.g. Safari or Chrome on your phone).
Step 1: Go to www.instagram.com and sign into your account
Step 2: Visit the Delete Account page.
Step 3: Confirm deletion.
Ensure the username matches the account you want to delete. If not, click Log out on the right side of the screen to go back to Instagram and sign in to the correct account.
Fill out the reason for deleting your Instagram account and enter your password. Tapping Delete @username at the bottom will permanently delete your account.
When should you delete your Instagram account?
If you have any doubts at all about deleting your profile, you should temporarily deactivate your Instagram account instead. Deactivated accounts are easily recovered, whereas deleted ones are permanently removed from the platform (after the 30 day grace period).
For most people, I’d recommend deactivation, even if you leave it that way for months or years. It accomplishes the same thing (no one can find or see your account) but without the risk of regret.
Another option is to switch to a private account.
Private accounts still show up in search results but their posts don’t, nor are they publicly viewable on your profile. People can request to follow you, but you don’t have to approve them. Current followers will still be able to see your posts and content, though.
To change to a private account, go to Settings in the app, then Privacy and tap the slider next to Private account to the on position.
There are a few specific scenarios where deleting your Instagram account makes sense. (Although you could still choose to temporarily disable your account for these, too.)
You’re not sure if Instagram is paying off
Is Instagram helping you achieve your business goals? You set business goals for your Instagram account, right? And you measure them regularly, right?
Instagram may not be the best fit for you, but if you’re unsure, it’s worth it to revise your Instagram marketing strategy first. Give it a fair shot to provide a positive ROI for you.
Use our free social media audit template to track progress and evaluate the results. If you still don’t see results from Instagram for several quarters, it’s probably worth focusing more on other platforms.
Your target audience doesn’t use Instagram
You can have the most bangin’ Reels, the best carousels, and the most interesting Stories, but if your target peeps aren’t seeing it? Oof, that’s a lot of wasted effort for very little reward.
Social media platforms are only as effective as your marketing strategy. Is your target customer 70+ years old? Certainly some will be on Instagram, but it’s probably not where you should spend the bulk of your time or budget.
Not sure if Instagram is a good fit for your audience? Check out the Social Trends 2022 report for the latest demographics for all platforms and the stats you need for an informed strategy.
You have more than one account for your brand
Whoops, discovered that second account last year’s intern opened by mistake? Go ahead and delete it (unless it has, like, a bajillion followers).
Duplicate or erroneous accounts can confuse your audience, especially if your main profile doesn’t have a blue check mark beside it to show its authenticity. People may end up following the wrong account. Eliminate confusion by deleting any unused profiles.
Managing Instagram is overwhelming
Gotcha! This is a trick reason. Overwhelm is real but it’s not a reason to delete your account.
Instead, save time, get organized, and get your Instagram marketing in gear with Hootsuite. Schedule and publish your content—yep, Reels, too!— in advance, manage DMs from all your platforms from one inbox, and collaborate and approve draft content with your team.
Start your free 30-day trial
Check out how Hootsuite takes the overwhelm out of managing your Instagram (and all your other platforms).
Whether you decide to keep Instagram or not, Hootsuite seamlessly manages all your social media accounts across platforms. Plan, schedule, publish, engage, analyze, and advertise everywhere from one dashboard. Save your time and protect your work-life balance. Try it free today.
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How to delete your Instagram account
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The process isn’t as quick and easy as it should be
By Mitchell Clark
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
If you’ve made the decision to delete Instagram, whether because you’ve outgrown the need for a certain finsta or because its parent company Meta is courting controversy again, doing so isn’t as quick or easy as it should be. Up until recently, it couldn’t even be done from within the Instagram app.
Go ahead and take a moment to make an obligatory “I’m deleting Instagram” post if you’d like. After that, you have two ways you can go about it.
Deleting Instagram using the iOS or Android App
The easiest way for iPhone users to delete Instagram is by using the app. To do so, go to your profile, tap the hamburger menu in the top right, and select Settings. Then go to Account, and scroll down to the bottom of the menu. There will be a Delete Account button under the Branded Content button.
If you have it, tapping on it will bring up a menu asking if you want to delete or deactivate your account — you can read more about those other options in the “Temporarily suspending your Instagram account” section of this how-to. Pressing the Delete account button will bring up a message saying that you can stop the deletion process by a certain date if you log back in.
Tap the red Continue deleting account button, and the app will open a webpage. Here, you can complete the deletion process after you answer a question about why you’re deleting your account, and enter your password to confirm.
Apple’s rules mean that Instagram’s iOS app has to let you delete your account. In our testing, the option hasn’t always been available on the Android version of the app. You can check for the Delete Account option by following the instructions for iOS above, but if you don’t have it, you’ll have to do it using the web.
Deleting Instagram on the web
If you can’t use the app to delete your account, you’ll have to follow these steps to ditch your account — they can be followed using either a computer or phone, as long as you’re using a browser.
- First, you’ll have to go to Instagram’s special account removal request page, which can be found here, or by following the link in Instagram’s account deletion help article. If you’re not logged into Instagram for the web (most people won’t be), you’ll have to enter your credentials. In fact, it’s very likely you’ll have to put in your password twice throughout the deletion process, so now’s probably a good time to make sure you know what it is.
Instagram will clearly show you what account you’re about to delete, and ask you why.
- You should end up on a page with the old Instagram logo and a dropdown asking you why you want to delete your account. Depending on which option you choose, you may be shown various links to Instagram’s help center promising to fix your issues or a message helpfully reminding you to check which account you’re deleting.
- Whichever you pick, there’ll be a box below the links that asks you to reenter your password.
After you do, tap or click the button that says Delete (your account name), and confirm that you’re sure.
Tapping the delete button after entering your password will give you one last confirmation pop-up.
As Instagram says a few times on the account deletion page, your data won’t be immediately erased — Meta will keep it around for 30 days. But your profile and posts will be hidden on the site.
If you’re completely breaking up with Instagram, don’t forget to remove the app from your phone as well. Doing so will save you a little space and will also put a little bit of friction between you and signing back up for the service.
How to un-delete your Instagram account
Be aware that you won’t be able to bring your account back if it’s been over 30 days since you asked Instagram to delete it. You’ll have to recreate your account (your username will be freed up after your account’s deleted, but it’s possible someone could’ve taken it).
You can restore your account within 30 days by logging back in.
However, if you’re within that 30-day time period, you can get your account back, along with its posts and DMs. To do so, simply go back to Instagram and log in with your credentials. You’ll see a message saying that you requested your account be deleted, along with the date your data will be gone. To keep that from happening, just press the “Keep Account” button.
Temporarily suspending your Instagram account
If you want to remove your account from public view, but don’t want to permanently delete all your photos and messages, you can suspend your account instead.
The screen to suspend your account is relatively easy to access, but you’ll have to do it through a web browser.
Again, Meta makes you use the web version of Instagram, instead of the app, but at least you won’t have to get a link from a help article.
- After logging 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 get the option).
- From there, go to Edit Profile > Temporarily disable my account (it’ll be an option at the very bottom). As with deleting your account, you’ll have to select a reason why you’re suspending your account, and put in your password.
Instagram’s “Temporarily disable account” screen.
To re-enable your account, simply log back in using the app or the website. You’ll only be able to suspend your account once a week, so if you accidentally log back in your profile, your posts will be back online and visible to followers, at least for a little while.
Update July 2nd, 2022, 8:32AM ET: This article was originally published on November 17th, 2021. Updated to add instructions for deleting your account through the app.
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Deleting an Instagram account | Instagram Help Center
If you delete your account, your profile, all photos, videos, comments, likes and followers will also be permanently deleted.
If you just want to take a break, you can temporarily deactivate your account.
For security reasons, we cannot delete your account for you. To submit an account deletion request, sign in to your account. If you've forgotten your password or username, see Tips for signing in to your account.
Before deleting your Instagram account, sign in and download a copy of your information, such as photos and posts. If you delete your account, you will no longer be able to access the Download Data tool on Instagram.
To permanently delete an account using the Account Center:
Click the or icon on your profile picture in the lower right corner of the screen to go to your profile.
Click the icon in the upper right corner of the screen and select Settings.
Click Account Center and then Personal Information.
Click Account Management and then Deactivate or Delete.
Select the required account.
Click Delete Account and then Continue.
Note. Deactivating your account in the Account Center may not be available to you.
To request a permanent account deletion using the Instagram app:
Go to the Delete Account page. If you haven't logged into Instagram on your computer yet, do so.
Select an option from the drop-down menu under Why do you want to delete [account name]'s profile? and re-enter your password. You will only be able to permanently delete your account after you select a reason and enter your password.
Click Delete account [username].
To delete another account:
Click on the username in the upper right corner of the Delete Account page.
Click the icon next to Edit Profile and select Sign out.
Sign in to the account you want to delete and follow the instructions above.
By deleting your account, you will be able to sign up again with the same username or use it on a different account, as long as the other person on Instagram doesn't do so first.
Note. If your account has been terminated for violating the Community Guidelines, you will not be able to register again with the same username.
30 days after the request is submitted, the account and all associated information will be permanently deleted. You will not be able to recover this information. During this period, they will be subject to the Instagram Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Instagram users will not see this content.
It may take up to 9 days for your content to be removed0 days from the start of the deletion process. After this period, a copy of your content may be stored in backup storage that we use to recover data lost in the event of a natural disaster, software error, etc. We may also retain your information for legal purposes, in the event of a violation of terms of use, or for purposes intended to prevent harm. Detailed information about this is available in the Privacy Policy.
How to delete an Instagram account: instructions
Sometimes it's good to take a break from social media, but self-discipline only allows a few.
Then deleting the profile comes to the rescue. We explain how to delete from Instagram permanently or temporarily, saving data
Since March 21, 2022, the social networks Facebook and Instagram have been banned in Russia by a court decision, and the Meta Platforms holding company that owns them has been recognized as an extremist organization and is also banned.
Some users notice that they devote too much time to maintaining their Instagram account to the detriment of work and personal affairs. Even the owner of Instagram, Meta, admitted in internal documents that its social networks have a negative impact on sleep, work, parenting, work productivity and personal life of approximately 12.5% of users. And scientists from the University of British Columbia have found that users' own lives begin to seem insufficiently bright and interesting compared to what they see on Instagram.
Meanwhile, until the spring of 2022, the social network was consistently in the top 10 in terms of downloads in Russia and in the world.
The international agency We Are Social estimated that in 2021 Instagram ranked fourth in our country in terms of the number of users (61.2% of Russian Internet users go there), and in total 67.8% of the Russian population (99 million people) use social networks. The average Russian spends 3 hours a day outside of work at the monitor or with a smartphone.
In November 2021, Instagram began testing the Take a Break feature. It will allow users to escape from the continuous viewing of the feed. In the settings, it will be possible to set reminders for breaks, for example, 10, 20 or 30 minutes. After that, the application will issue a warning about the need to rest. However, this feature has been opened to a limited number of users so far.
For now, everyone has the only alternative - to give up Instagram for a while or for good.
How to permanently delete an Instagram account
This option should be chosen when the profile is definitely no longer useful: for example, if we are talking about the account of a company that has closed.
Before deleting a profile, Instagram will offer to save data from it. To do this, you need to send a download request. After that, an email will be sent to your email within 48 hours with a link where you can download photos and videos. You can also request a copy of your data through the Instagram app for Android and iPhone. To do this, open the menu in the profile, go to the "Settings" - "Security" section and select the "Download data" item. Next, you will need to enter your email address and account password.
Download request from Instagram
Even after deleting the profile, it will be visible on the social network for another 30 days. During this time, the user can change his mind and restore the account. If within a month the owner of the profile has never logged into the system, then the account is permanently deleted.
In the web version
To delete a profile using a computer, you need to perform several steps:
- go to the social network site and click on the "Help" button in the lower right corner;
- go to the "Help Center" and select the line "Delete your account" in the left menu;
- follow the link suggested in the article;
- specify the reason for deleting the profile;
- confirm the action by entering a password.
From a smartphone
To delete an Instagram profile using your phone, you need to take more steps:
- enter your profile in the application and click on "Settings";
- in the menu that appears, select the line "Help" and go to the "Help Center";
- on the page that opens, select the item "Manage your account";
- in the search bar enter the query "Delete profile";
- go to the article "How to delete your Instagram account";
- follow the link in the article;
- indicate the reason for deleting the account and enter the page password.
How to temporarily delete an Instagram account
The user can also stop using Instagram for any period and then restore the page. However, you can do this no more than once a week. A temporarily deleted profile is not visible to other users of the social network. To restore it, you just need to log into the application.
In the web version
To temporarily deactivate your profile using a computer, you must perform the following steps:
- go to the social network site under your account;
- click on the profile photo and select "Settings" in the menu that opens;
- at the bottom of the page, click on the link "Temporarily disable my account";
- on the page that opens, indicate the reason for the temporary disconnection and enter the account password.
From the phone
As in the case of the "perpetual" deletion, temporary blocking of Instagram will require more steps:
- go to your profile;
- go to the "Settings" section and select the "Help" item;
- in the menu that appears, click on the line "Help Center";
- on the support page, open the "Manage your account" item;
- in the search bar, enter "Temporarily disable";
- go to the article "How to delete your Instagram account";
- click on the link "How to temporarily disable your account" and find the article "Instagram.
com website from a mobile browser"; - click on the link in the first paragraph of the instruction and go to the mobile browser;
- on the main page of the account, click on the "Edit profile" button;
- select the link "Temporarily disable my account" at the bottom of the page.
Is it possible to delete a blocked Instagram account
To delete your account, you need to know your username and password. A forgotten password can be reset using an email address, phone number, or Facebook account. If the user does not have access to the email address specified during registration, and his Instagram and Facebook accounts are not linked, then the support service will not be able to provide access to the account.
In the event that an Instagram account has been blocked by the social network itself, its owner will see a corresponding message when logging in. He can appeal this decision. To do this, you need to open the app, enter your username and password, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
