How do I deactivate or delete my Twitter account?

Are you constantly checking Twitter to the point where it is getting in the way of other things? Do you feel like you need a break from the constant scrolling?

Twitter’s unique format of giving users the ability to post short messages can be a source for breaking news, trending memes, new products, and updates from friends.

But not everyone is a Twitter fan. Some people create a Twitter profile only to decide that it’s not the social media platform for them.

Others might find that they want to take a break for a period of time.

You have several options if you’re considering getting away from Twitter.

An important thing to keep in mind is that simply taking a temporary break from Twitter is much different than permanently deleting your Twitter account.

Have you been thinking about disabling your Twitter account or even deleting your profile permanently? Here are some things you should consider and steps you can take.

What does it mean to disable or delete a Twitter account?

If you want some distance between yourself and Twitter, it’s important to understand the difference between disabling and deleting your account.

If you delete your account, the move is permanent and all your data will be lost. However, there are other ways to take a break and change your Twitter usage patterns without hitting the kill switch on your account.

Can you temporarily disable Twitter without deleting it?

Rather than permanently deleting your Twitter account, you might instead ask, How do I pause Twitter without deleting my account? You can deactivate your Twitter account for a while rather than deleting it. Keep in mind that deactivating your Twitter account is the first step to deleting your account permanently.

While deactivated, your username, display name, and the public profile will not be viewable on the Twitter website or mobile app.

Here’s how to deactivate your account from the Twitter app on your phone: 

1. Open the app and log into your Twitter account.
2. Tap the icon of three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Account at the top of the Settings and privacy page.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the Account page and select Deactivate your account.
5. Next to Reactivation period tap Make a selection and choose either 30 days or 12 months in the pop-up. If you want to keep your Twitter account, you must come back within the Reactivation period or your account will be permanently deleted.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap Deactivate.
7. Enter your password and tap Deactivate.
8. A pop-up should prompt you to finally finish deactivating your account. Press Yes, deactivate, and it will take you to the Twitter login page after successfully deactivating your account.

You can reactivate your account 24 hours after you’ve Hibernated it by logging back into your account.

Deactivating only certain features of Twitter

Another option for keeping your Twitter account but giving yourself some distance from it is to deactivate only certain features of the app, like notifications, while continuing to use Twitter’s core functionality. Below are a few features you can consider disabling.

Deactivating Twitter notifications without deactivating Twitter

Twitter is a fun and useful app, but its relentless notifications can become annoying and distracting. The notifications are designed to make you feel like you need to check the site or open up the app so you aren’t missing out on anything.

You can turn off Twitter notifications on your phone while still being able to use all of Twitter’s other features. Here’s how to do this on the Twitter app on your phone:

1. Open the app and log into your Twitter account.
2. Tap the icon of three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Notifications.
4. Tap Push notifications.
5. From the Push notifications menu, you can customize exactly what type of notifications you’d like to receive from the Twitter app. For example, you can choose to only receive notifications if people reply to your tweets or turn off notifications related to new followers.
6. Once you’ve finished with Push notifications, tab back a screen, and you can check on your email notification setting as well.
7. Exit Settings, and your changes will be saved.

Deactivating Twitter data tracking features without deactivating Twitter

Twitter uses data tracking to serve relevant advertising to you, but knowing that Twitter can see what you’re doing on other sites can be annoying. You can increase your privacy without permanently deleting your account.

Here’s how to limit the ability of Twitter to track your activity:

1. Open the app and log into your Twitter account.
2. Tap the icon of three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select Settings.
3. Tap your account name.
4. Tap Privacy.
5. Tap Tailor Twitter based on my apps and toggle it off.

If you do not want ads to be selected for you based on your browsing habits, you will want to opt out of interest-based ads. Note that opting out does not remove all ads in apps.

1. Open the app and log into your Twitter account.
2. Tap the icon of three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select Settings.
3. Tap your account name.
4. Tap Privacy.
5. Tap Advertising and toggle Limit ad tracking off.

Stop opening and posting to Twitter

By far the most straightforward way to take a break from Twitter is to stop posting new content and not check the app altogether. In fact, experts agree that it’s imperative to learn how to take a break from social media.

While this might seem like a simple solution, in theory, it can be challenging in practice. Here’s why:

Around the world, about 3.96 billion people use social media, spending an average of 144 minutes on it every day.

Even users who realize they have such an addiction can find it difficult to simply stop using Twitter for fear they may be missing out on its social aspects.

To help you change your Twitter habits, try teaming up with someone else who also wants to break the Twitter habit and hold each other accountable.

Uninstalling the Twitter app without disabling your account

Another effective but not permanent option for getting away from Twitter is to uninstall or delete the app from your phone.

With this option, all your account data will remain intact, since this doesn’t delete your Twitter account itself. However, it will give you a chance to take a break from the app.

By deleting the app from your phone, you’ll stop receiving notifications that urge you to open the app, which is what you are looking to avoid.

You’ll also be less tempted to want to use the app if you can’t simply tap and open it but must instead go through the steps to re-install the app to your phone to use it.

However, the Twitter app does not have a built-in uninstall feature. To remove the app, you need to use the uninstall process of the device it is installed on.

Fully deleting and deactivating your Twitter account

The most extreme option for getting away from Twitter is to fully delete your account.

We’ve already explained above the steps for temporarily deactivating your Twitter account, which will automatically fully delete your account after a 30-day or 12-month period if you don’t log back into your account.

This option will delete your Twitter account permanently.

I hope this information helps you manage your Twitter usage. Do you have your own experiences or tips to share related to deactivating or putting your Twitter account on pause? If so, post in the comments below.

— Sean