Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
If youâve made the decision to delete Instagram, whether because youâve outgrown the need for a certain finsta or because its parent company Meta is courting controversy again, doing so isnât as quick or easy as it should be. Up until recently, it couldnât even be done from within the Instagram app.
Go ahead and take a moment to make an obligatory âIâm deleting Instagramâ post if youâd like. After that, you have two ways you can go about it.
Deleting Instagram using the iOS or Android App
The easiest way, of course, would be through the Instagram app on your phone, though currently, the option isnât available for 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 down to the bottom of the menu. You may see a âDelete Accountâ button under the âBranded Contentâ button.
If you have it, tapping on it will bring up a menu asking if you want to delete or disable your account â you can read more about those other options in the âTemporarily suspending your Instagram accountâ section of this how-to. Pressing the âDelete accountâ 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 âContinue deleting account button,â and the app will walk you through the rest of the process.
If you donât have the âDelete Accountâ option, you can try it on the web, as follows.
Deleting Instagram on the web
If you canât use the app to delete your account, youâll have to follow these steps to ditch your account â they can be followed using either a computer or phone, as long as youâre using a browser.
First, youâll have to go to Instagramâs special account removal request page, which can be found here, or by following the link in Instagramâs account deletion help article. If youâre not logged into Instagram for the web (most people wonât be), youâll have to enter your credentials. In fact, itâs very likely youâll have to put in your password twice throughout the deletion process, so nowâs probably a good time to make sure you know what it is.
Instagram will clearly show you what account youâre 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 Instagramâs help center promising to fix your issues or a message helpfully reminding you to check which account youâre deleting.
Whichever you pick, thereâll be a box below the links that asks you to reenter your password. After you do, tap or click the button that says âDelete (your account name),â and confirm that youâre 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 wonât be immediately erased â Meta will keep it around for 30 days. But your profile and posts will be hidden on the site.
If youâre completely breaking up with Instagram, donât 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 wonât be able to bring your account back if itâs been over 30 days since you asked Instagram to delete it. Youâll have to recreate your account (your username will be freed up after your accountâs deleted, but itâs possible someone couldâve taken it).
You can restore your account within 30 days by logging back in.
However, if youâre 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. Youâll 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 âKeep Accountâ button.
Temporarily suspending your Instagram account
If you want to remove your account from public view, but donât 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 youâll 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 wonât 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 youâre using a mobile browser, youâll have to tap the settings cog to get the option).
From there, go to âEdit Profileâ> âTemporarily disable my accountâ (itâll be an option at the very bottom). As with deleting your account, youâll have to select a reason why youâre suspending your account, and put in your password.
Instagramâs âTemporarily disable accountâ screen.
To re-enable your account, simply log back in using the app or the website. Youâll 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 February 8th, 2022, 5:25PM ET: This article was originally published November 17th, 2021. Updated to add instructions for deleting your account through the app.