How do I delete an Instagram account?

Getting tired of pictures of the Kardashians or your friends’ meals? Or do you just need a break from social media? Instagram make it easy to temporarily suspend your account but deleting it… that’s buried away to the point where you expect to find a large ‘X’ over it with Blackbeard in pursuit of its mystical location. So how do you delete an Instagram account?

In all cases, this is done via the web, as these options are not available from the mobile app.

Suspending your Instagram account

If you just want a break you can suspend your account, which means your account will be hidden until you reactivate it by logging back in. You can only suspend your account once a week.

• Head to the “Edit Profile” screen
• At the bottom of the screen, click on the link titled “Temporarily disable my account”
• Select your reason for disabling your account and supply your password
• Click on the blue “Temporarily Disable Account” button at the bottom of the screen

Your photos, comments and likes will now be hidden until you reactivate your account by logging back in.

Deleting your Instagram account

• Head to the “Deleting Your Account” page
• Choose your reason for deleting your account
• Once selected, you will be re-prompted for your password
• Now press the big, red “Permanently delete my account” button

You are now account-less.

Viewing and downloading your Instagram data

Before you do all this, you may be interested to learn what Instagram knows about you (let’s not forget that Instagram is owned by Facebook).

From the web interface

• To view your data, head to the “View Account Data” screen. All the data held about you is available to view:
• To download your data, go to the “Download Data” screen. Confirm your email address and your data will then be emailed to you in JSON format.

From the mobile app

• To view your data, the mobile app actually takes you to the web interface anyway, where you may be asked to log in again. For this reason, it’s recommended you use the above method to view it straight from the website.
• To download your data, go to your profile and click the menu icon (3 vertical dots) in the top right-hand corner. Scroll down and select “Data download”. You’ll be prompted for your email address – your data will then be sent to you in JSON format.

Now read this: How can I create my own emoji?