Tired of the 280-character microblogging platform that is Twitter? Sick of all the obnoxious hashtag trends, sponsored tweets, lack of civility, and trolls? Thankfully, it isn't complicated to delete your Twitter account — in fact, the process is easy if you know what you're doing.
Note that there is no way to immediately delete your profile. Instead, the following steps will deactivate your account, after which it's queued for permanent deletion. Once done, Twitter will retain your data for 30 days, allowing you to log in and reactivate your account should you change your mind and decide you truly can't live without seeing those trending topics.
Even though Twitter will eliminate your account, it doesn't guarantee that your tweets won't be indexed by search engines like Google and Bing. That means your tweets could still exist somewhere — a non-issue if you posted innocuous stuff, of course. Per Twitter policy, you will not be able to reactivate your account after 30 days. If you've amassed a huge following, you will lose them forever.
If you're ready to get rid of your Twitter account, check out the instructions below for details.
How to delete your Twitter account: Via the desktop website
As we mentioned earlier, you can't delete your Twitter profile right away, but you can kick-start the account deletion process by deactivating your account. Here's how to do that if you're on the desktop website.
Step 1: Go to Twitter.com and log in to your account if you're not already logged in.
Step 2: Once you're logged in, select More from the menu on the left side of your screen.
Step 3: A pop-up menu will appear, from this menu, select Settings and privacy.
Step 4: Under Settings, select the Your account tab. On the right side of the screen and under the Your account heading, select the Deactivate your account option.
Step 5: The Deactivate account section that appears will present you with further information about what deactivation entails. Read this and if you still want to deactivate your Twitter account, select the red Deactivate link at the bottom of this section.
Step 6: Under the Confirm your password section, enter your password in the text box provided and then select the Deactivate button to confirm your decision.
That's it. At this point, your account should now be deactivated and your profile and username won't be visible (except for others' tweets that mention your username) on the site or mobile apps. Your account still exists for 30 more days, however, to give you time to change your mind and reactivate your account. After 30 days, your Twitter account will be deleted.
How to delete your Twitter account: Android and iOS devices
You can also deactivate your account (and start the deletion process) on Twitter's mobile apps for Android and iOS. Here's how.
(Note: The following steps include instructions for both Android and iOS, but the screenshots featured are from an Android phone.)
Step 1: Open the Twitter mobile app and select your profile icon from the top of your screen.
For iOS: Choose the Menu icon which looks like a stack of three horizontal lines.
Step 2: A menu will appear from the left side of your screen. Navigate to the bottom of this menu and choose Settings and privacy.
For iOS: Choose Settings and privacy.
Step 3: Select Your account > Deactivate account.
For iOS: Choose Your account > Deactivate your account.
Step 4: You'll read the information presented about deactivation. Then select Deactivate at the bottom of the screen. iOS users will do the same.
Step 5: Both Android and iOS users: Type in your password and then select the Deactivate button.
A pop-up message will appear asking you to confirm once more. Select Yes, deactivate to do so.
Your account should be deactivated now. Remember, this means that for 30 days your account will still exist but not be visible on Twitter's site or apps (with the exception of your username if it's mentioned in someone else's tweets). After the 30 days pass without you reactivating your account, your account will then be deleted.
