Indeed, a prospering decision to delete your Instagram account as it won’t only let you enjoy your real life more but have more focus on what you couldn’t while you were tiring your thumb off scrolling your Instagram feed or exploring the “search.” Anyways, now that you have decided to get serious with your routine, you will find us as determined as you.
That said, you now have two options at your disposal, you could either take a temporary break from Instagram, i.e., you could deactivate your account and activate it back after a defined period, or you could delete it permanently. We won’t tell you what to do since it is your call, but we will surely define both options in this ‘how to delete Instagram account’ guide, so you don’t face any difficulty making the decision.
Deleting or deactivating your Instagram account is not as easy as finding that delete or deactivate button in the settings, tapping on it, and boom, your account is gone. We wish that was the case, but it isn’t. It is because Instagram doesn’t allow you to delete your account using the application; instead, you will have to log in using the browser, and only then will you be able to get rid of your account on the famous photo-sharing app.
Not to forget, in some cases, you may see that delete button in your account settings, and we don’t know what those cases are; but it is always recommended to first check that out, and then opt for the browser method. Let’s explore that first.
How to Delete Instagram Account using Android or iPhone App?
Here’s how to see if you can delete your Instagram account using the smartphone application:
- Open the Instagram application on your smartphone, on your profile, tap on the hamburger icon in the upper right corner, and navigate to the settings.
- Once in the settings, find the ‘Account’ button, and tap on it.
- Scroll till the end of the Account page, and right below the ‘Branded Content,’ you should see the button ‘Delete account.
- If you don’t see it, no worries, it is visible in rare cases. But if you do see it, tap on it, and it will ask for some questions to be answered, show some warnings like if you log back in before 30 days, your account won’t be deleted, and finally will let you delete your account.
However, if you can’t delete your Instagram account this way, you should opt for the browser method, which we will start in three, two, and one.
How to Delete Instagram Account using a browser?
This method is genuine and works only if you are deleting your account through a web browser. You may also delete your Instagram account by switching to the ‘desktop site’ on Android and iPhones, which you can do by opening Chrome, tapping on that ‘three-dot’ menu in the upper right corner (in the lower right corner on Safari), and marking ‘Desktop Site.’
However, for the process, here’s how to delete your Instagram account through the web:
- First of all, you don’t have to open the official Instagram domain, i.e., Instagram.com; instead, this page, where Instagram will walk you through the whole process.
- Once you have landed on that page, you will have to enter your credentials to log in to the account, and there you should see the old interface of Instagram with the old logo.
- The dropdown you see in the screenshot above hosts many reasons why one may delete their account. Instagram, before you proceed with deleting yours, will ask you the same, and whatever of them you choose, if it can be fixed, the application may show you related links.
- After you have selected the reason why you want to delete your Instagram account, it will ask you to re-enter your password right below the question.
- In the bottom left corner, there is a button that says Delete ‘Your account,’ once you have re-entered your password, click or tap on the button, and Instagram will ask for confirmation.
- Provide the confirmation, and your account will be deleted.
Note that your Instagram account though will not be visible in the application, your data will be stored with Meta for the next 30 days, which is also the period of undoing the deletion process. If you log back in within the next 30 days, your account will not be deleted, and you will have full access to your application content.
We would recommend that you delete the application as well, for if it keeps coming in front of your eyes, it may compel you to log back in and ruin the determination you managed to gather through all this time.
How to deactivate your Instagram Account?
Unlike deleting your Instagram account that permanently wipes you off Meta’s database, you can deactivate or disable your account temporarily. But again, you can not do that through the smartphone application of Instagram, you will have to log in using the browser, no matter on a PC or a smartphone.
- There is no specified page for disabling or deactivating your Instagram account, just hop on to Instagram.com, go to ‘Your Profile,’ and then to ‘Edit Profile.’
- Once you enter Edit Profile, scroll down till the end of the page, and in the bottom right corner, you should see a button named ‘Temporarily Disable Account.’
- Click on the button, and it will direct you to a new page, but it will still be on Instagram, where the application will show you some details like ‘You can only disable your account for once a week, and that you can reactivate your account by logging back in.
- Now once again, it will ask you why you are deactivating your Instagram account, select an appropriate reason from the dropdown, and re-enter your password in the box below.
- After that, the button in the bottom left corner will become clickable, tap or click on it to temporarily disable or deactivate your Instagram account.
How can you download your Instagram Data?
The most exciting part of Instagram is it lets you download your data, not the data that dates back to a month or so but from the time you joined the photo-sharing application. That’s especially helpful when you are permanently bidding farewell to Instagram but will miss what you uploaded there, connected with, and carried out the activities.
If you are wondering what the data that we will learn to download in a moment will include, let us tell you. When you request Instagram for a copy of your data, you receive a file in JSON or HTML format, which hosts your messages, comments, likes, connections, images, videos, searches, account history, information, etc.
All of this data is categorized into two to three folders, which you can access one by one, and get a hit from nostalgia. But a point to note here is that the data will be all about you, it will be your messages that you sent, what you liked, where and what you commented, etc.
Now that you know what lies in the downloaded data from Instagram, let’s learn how you can request that from Instagram. You can download your Instagram data from both the application and browser, here’s how you do so:
- In both mediums, i.e., application and browser, head to Settings and then navigate to Privacy and Security on the browser version, and ‘Security’ in the application.
- There you should see an option ‘Download Data’ under ‘Data and History,’ find and click or tap on it.
- As you do so, Instagram will ask you to enter your password to request a copy of your Instagram data on your email address.
- Re-enter your password, and click the button ‘Request Download,’ and within a short span of time, Instagram will send you a copy of your data on the email address you have registered with the app.
The file may as well be big or small, depending upon how consciously you have used the application, and may take the time to open or load accordingly.
Conclusion
Deleting your Instagram account requires you to log in to the application using a browser, which you can do either from your PC or from your smartphone. However, we’d say, if you are lucky, you may also delete it from the application, but that’s up to Instagram to ensure the availability of the feature.
However, if you want to deactivate your account temporarily, you can do so using both the application and the browser version of Instagram. However, it will always be precautionary to remember your password in both cases and request a copy of your data from Instagram, so your memories stay with you, even after you are no longer a user of the famous photo-sharing app.