Why You Might Want to Delete Your TikTok Account Permanently
There are several reasons why someone may want to permanently delete their TikTok account:
Data Privacy Concerns – TikTok collects a significant amount of user data, including browsing history, location information, and device data. Some users are uncomfortable with how much personal data TikTok gathers and want to permanently delete their account to prevent further data collection.
Limit Screen Time – TikTok can be highly addictive and lead to excessive screen time. Deleting your account permanently can help reclaim time spent endlessly scrolling and refocus it towards more meaningful activities.
Stop Comparisons to Others – The curated versions of peoples’ lives on TikTok can lead to negative social comparisons. Permanently deleting your account allows you to avoid feeling inadequate compared to others.
Avoid Distractions – The TikTok algorithm is designed to keep you watching more content through autoplaying videos. This can distract from work, school, family time, and other priorities. Deleting your account eliminates this source of distraction.
Mental Health Benefits – For some users, TikTok has a negative impact on mental health due to bullying, appearance pressures, and loneliness from excessive social media use. Permanently deleting your account can alleviate these issues.
Back Up Your Content
Before deleting your TikTok account, it’s important to back up any videos or data you want to keep. TikTok allows you to download a copy of the data associated with your account.
To download your TikTok data:
- Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
- Go to “Settings and privacy” > “Data and storage”
- Tap “Download your data” and follow the instructions.
The download can take a few days to process. Once ready, you’ll receive an email with a link to access your data. This includes your video viewing history, comments, chats, and more. For full details, see TikTok’s Download Your Data page.
Backing up this data means you’ll have a copy if you later decide to permanently delete your TikTok account.
Delete the App
The first step in permanently deleting your TikTok account is to delete the TikTok app from your device. This ensures that even if you don’t go through with deleting your account, you won’t be tempted to access TikTok again. Follow these instructions to delete the TikTok app:
- Open the App Store if you have an iPhone or the Play Store if you have an Android.
- Search for TikTok and select the TikTok app.
- Tap the “Uninstall” or “Delete” button to remove the app from your device.
- Confirm that you want to delete the app when prompted.
Once the TikTok app has been deleted from your device, you can proceed to the next step of deleting your TikTok account permanently through the website.
Log in to Account Settings
To delete your TikTok account, you first need to log in to access your account settings. Here are the steps to log in on both mobile and desktop:
On Mobile:
1. Open the TikTok app on your device.
2. Tap the “Profile” icon in the bottom right corner.
3. Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to open the side menu.
4. Tap “Settings and privacy” to access your account settings.
On Desktop:
1. Go to TikTok.com and click “Log in” in the top right corner.
2. Enter your username and password and click Log in.
3. Click your profile icon in the top right corner.
4. Select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.
You are now logged in to your account settings on both mobile and desktop. Proceed to the account deletion steps.
Initiate Account Deletion
Once in the Account settings, tap the “Delete account” option. This will bring you to a page that walks through the account deletion process.
On the “Delete account” page, TikTok will first confirm your intent to delete the account. Tap “Delete my account” to proceed.
Next, you will be asked to provide your account password. This is to verify your identity and prevent unauthorized account deletions. Enter your password and tap “Delete” to continue.
TikTok will then give you one last chance to cancel the deletion. Tap “Delete” again if you are sure you want to permanently delete the account.
According to TikTok’s support site, “Deleting an account | TikTok Help Center”, once you complete these steps, your account will be scheduled for deletion.
Confirm Account Deletion
After submitting the initial request to delete your TikTok account, you will be taken to a confirmation page. This page will show your username and profile picture and ask if you are sure you want to delete your account permanently.
At this stage, TikTok requires you to re-confirm that you definitely want to delete your account. This is an important extra step to ensure users don’t accidentally delete their accounts.
You will need to click or tap the “Delete Account” button again to verify that yes, you do in fact want to permanently delete your TikTok account.
Be absolutely certain before clicking this button, as there is no way to recover or undo the account deletion after this point.
Once you confirm deletion a second time, your account will be scheduled for permanent deletion.
Account is Scheduled for Deletion
Once you confirm you want to delete your TikTok account, it will be scheduled for deletion but will still remain active for 30 days. This is a waiting period that gives you a chance to login and cancel the deletion if you change your mind and want to keep using your account.
During the 30 day waiting period, your profile, videos, comments, likes, and followers will still be visible to other users. You can continue using the account normally. But keep in mind that if you do nothing, after 30 days your account and all associated data will be permanently deleted by TikTok.
You will receive email reminders from TikTok during the 30 day waiting period, alerting you that your account is scheduled for deletion. This gives you an opportunity to preserve any data or content you want to keep before it’s deleted.
If you are certain you want your account fully deleted, you don’t need to do anything during the 30 day period. Your TikTok account will automatically be deleted after 30 days.
Cancel Deletion Request
If you change your mind and want to keep using your TikTok account after initiating deletion, you have a 30 day window where you can cancel the deletion request. During this time, your account will remain active and fully functional.
To cancel the deletion request:
- Login to your TikTok account within 30 days of initiating deletion.
- Go to the account settings page.
- Under “Account,” you will see a notice that your account is scheduled for deletion. Next to this notice is an option to “Cancel Deletion Request.”
- Click “Cancel Deletion Request.”
- You will see a confirmation message that the deletion request has been canceled and your account will remain active.
Once you cancel the deletion request, your account will continue functioning normally. All of your content, followers, and account details will remain intact. You can continue using TikTok as you did before initiating the deletion.
However, note that you can only cancel the deletion request within the 30 day window after initiating the deletion process. Once the 30 days have passed, deletion of your account cannot be reversed.
Account is Permanently Deleted
After 30 days from when you initiated the account deletion, your TikTok account and all associated data will be permanently deleted by TikTok. This includes your profile information, videos, messages, comments, likes, and followers. TikTok states that once your account is deleted, your data cannot be recovered.
The 30-day waiting period allows users a chance to cancel the deletion request in case they change their mind. But after the 30 days have passed, there is no way to regain access to a deleted account. The username will become available to be claimed by a new user as well.
So if you are certain you want to permanently delete your TikTok presence, be aware that after 30 days the process cannot be reversed. The account, data, and username will be gone for good.
Creating a New Account
While it may be tempting to immediately create a new TikTok account after deleting your old one, it’s recommended you take a break from the platform entirely for a while. Deactivating or deleting your account is often motivated by wanting to spend less time on TikTok. Creating a new profile right away undermines that goal.
Give yourself a few weeks without TikTok to reset your habits and gain some perspective. Pursue other interests and activities that don’t involve endlessly scrolling through an app. You may find you don’t actually miss TikTok as much as you expected.
If after an extended TikTok break you decide you want to make a new account, be conscious of what drew you to spend so much time there before. Consider ways to engage with the platform more mindfully, such as limiting your daily time on TikTok, avoiding getting pulled into arguments in comments, and being more selective about who you follow.
Deleting your TikTok account can be a healthy way to reset your relationship with the platform. But the benefits will be lost if you immediately reinstate old habits. Take a thoughtful approach when considering returning to TikTok.
