How to delete your online accounts permanently
Old accounts keep your personal data on servers you no longer control. This page gives you the exact deletion steps for 15 major services, the cleanup to do before you click delete, and what happens to your data afterwards.
Before you delete anything
Export what you want to keep
Google Takeout, Facebook's "Download your information" and Amazon's order reports all let you download your data first. Once the account is gone, the download link is gone with it.
Detach payment methods
Cancel subscriptions and remove stored cards before closing the account. A deleted account can keep billing you until the card is detached.
Revoke third-party access
Apps and games that log in with Google or Facebook keep working against their token until you revoke them in the connected-apps settings.
Expect a grace period
Most services deactivate first and erase weeks later. Steam, for example, locks the account for 30 days after your request. The account is not gone until the window closes.
Step-by-step: the big five
Delete your Google account
- Sign in to your Google Account.
- Go to Data & Privacy section.
- Scroll down to 'More options' and select 'Delete your Google Account'.
- Confirm your identity and follow instructions to permanently delete the account.
Delete your Facebook account
- Log in to Facebook, click your profile picture and select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Click Accounts Center, then select Personal Details.
- Click Account Ownership and Control, then select Deactivation or Deletion.
- Choose Delete Account, click Continue and follow instructions to confirm.
Delete your Amazon account
- Go to the Close Your Amazon Account page.
- Log in and select the reason for closing your account.
- Check the box to confirm you understand the consequences (loss of Kindle, Prime, etc.).
- Click 'Close My Account'. Open the confirmation email and click confirm.
Delete your Instagram account
- Log in to your Instagram account on a web browser.
- Go to the Delete Your Account page.
- Choose an answer from the drop-down menu for 'Why are you deleting your account?'.
- Re-enter your password and click 'Delete [username]'.
Delete your Netflix account
- Log in to Netflix and cancel your membership via account settings.
- Netflix automatically deletes accounts 10 months after cancellation.
- To request immediate deletion, email [email protected] using your registered email address.
- Once processed, all user profiles and watch history are permanently deleted.
All 15 services
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Facebook account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Google account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Apple ID account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Netflix account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Amazon account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Instagram account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your TikTok account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your LinkedIn account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Snapchat account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your X (Twitter) account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Spotify account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Microsoft account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Yahoo account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Steam account.
Official closure links, instructions, and consequences of permanently deleting your Playstation Network account.
Looking for a service not on this list? justdelete.me maintains direct deletion links for hundreds of smaller ones.
Questions people ask before deleting
What is the difference between deactivating and deleting an account?
Deactivation hides your profile but keeps your data, and you can log back in any time. Deletion erases the account permanently. Facebook, Instagram and Steam make you choose between the two, so read the confirmation screen before you click.
Can I recover an account after deleting it?
Often, yes. Most services keep the account in a deactivated state for two to four weeks before erasing it. Logging back in during that window cancels the deletion. Once the window closes, the account and its data are gone, and support cannot restore them.
How do I delete an account I can no longer log into?
Recover the password first, then delete. An account you cannot authenticate to cannot be deleted, which is deliberate: it stops anyone from erasing an account that is not theirs. Our forgot-password guides cover the exact recovery flow for major services.
What happens to my data after the account is deleted?
The live copy is erased, but backup copies survive for a while. Each company states its backup window in its privacy policy. If the data matters to you, read that policy before deleting rather than after.
Should I bother deleting old accounts?
Prioritize accounts that hold payment details, identity documents, or health data. An unused account nobody watches is the easiest target for account takeover. For accounts holding nothing sensitive, deleting is still worth ten minutes, but the urgency is lower.
Secure the accounts you keep
Protect the services you still use with long, randomized, cryptographic credentials. VaultKeepR handles generation, storage, and auto-filling without centralized single points of failure.
Protect your identitySwitching password managers?
Export your vault from Bitwarden, Vaultwarden, 1Password or LastPass and import it locally in VaultKeepR: no account, no email, the import runs entirely in your browser.