How To Deactivate Your Account

Alert 12/21/11: Some users are reporting that they get an incorrect password notification when trying to deactivate their account. Our engineers are aware of this issue and are working on a fix. Usually, these accounts are successfully deactivated. You can check on the status of a deactivation by logging out and viewing your Twitter profile page (e.g. http://twitter.com/[insert username]). If your account has been successfully deactivated, you will see a "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" message on that page. If you've tried to deactivate and can still view your profile, please contact support and we will assist you. 

Deactivating your account permanently removes your profile and information from Twitter. Deactivation is not available on mobile devices and must be done by accessing Twitter.com on the web. 

Below is the message you will have to confirm before deactivating your account:

Before you deactivate your account, you should know:

• We only retain your user data for 30 days from the date of deactivation. After 30 days, your information will be permanently deleted.
• You may reactivate your account at any time during these 30 days by logging in.
• You do not need to deactivate your account to change your username or email address; you can change it easily and at any time in your account settings.
• To use a username or email address on another account, you must first change them and then confirm the change prior to deactivation. See below for instructions.
• We do not control content indexed by search engines like Google or Bing.
• After deactivation, your account should be removed within a few minutes, however some content may be viewable on twitter.com for a few days.

To deactivate your account:

1. Log in to Twitter on the web (deactivation is not available from mobile devices)
2. Click on the person icon and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. Click 'Deactivate my account' at the bottom of the Account settings page (shown below).
4. Read the account deactivation information on the deactivation screen. Select 'Okay, fine, deactivate account.'  
5. Enter your password when prompted. (Forgot your password? Request a password reset email.)
6. Verify that you really want to deactivate and voila, it's done.

To free up your username or email address before deactivating your account:

1. On the web, go to your Settings page from the drop-down menu under the person icon. 
2. In the username field, choose a new username (Try adding an underscore or a number to it).
3. In the email address field, change your email address to a new address you also own.
4. Confirm the new email address via a link we send to you (very important!).
5. Proceed with deactivation as listed above. Your email and username will now be free to use on a new account should you choose to sign up again during the 30 day deactivation period.

Note: We change your settings immediately, and any/all old links appearing in a Google or other search index thus lead to error pages. However, these old links appear because Google and other search engines have cached old content in their search index. Twitter has no control over this, but you can send them a request to take it down.

Having Trouble?

To restore an accidentally or wrongfully deactivated account, please read our article About Account Reactivation.

Forgot your password? Please read our article on How to Change or Recover Your Password.

Still need help? Contact Support.