How to Deactivate or Delete Your Snapchat Account Permanently

Snapchat is a great platform to communicate with friends through ephemeral photos and videos, especially for privacy-minded folks. The snaps or messages you send on the platform disappear after viewing them once or when you close the app. But if you are done with Snapchat and don’t find it appealing anymore, you might consider deleting your account.

Follow this guide to learn how including deleting your Snapchat account from your computer.

Deleting vs. Deactivating Your Snapchat Account

When you delete your Snapchat account, the platform will deactivate your profile. As a part of this, your profile, friends list, snaps, chats, stories, settings, and device data from its server. After this, your friends won’t be able to see your profile or send you any snaps or messages. It’s like you’ll become a ghost (pun intended).

Snapchat saves your data on its server for 30 days after your request to delete your account. If you reactivate your Snapchat account within these 30 days, you can restore your data and start using it again.

However, if you don’t log back within this period, Snapchat will permanently delete your account, and you won’t be able to restore your data. Archiving your data before deleting your Snapchat account is a good idea.

Unlike finding deleted friends on Snapchat, your friends can’t find your profile on the social medial once it is deleted.

How to Download Your Snapchat Data

To download your Snapchat data, ensure you’ve verified your email address. Snapchat will only send your data to your verified email address. After that, download an archive of your Snapchat data by following the steps below.

1. Launch the Snapchat app and tap on your profile icon.
   
2. Tap the gear icon (settings) and select My Data from the menu.
   
3. Confirm all details, enter your email address, and tap the Submit Request button.
   

Snapchat will send you an email with a link to download your data. Before you can start the download, though, you’ll have to log into your Snapchat account.

How to Delete Your Snapchat Account From Your Phone

The process of deleting your Snapchat account is pretty straightforward. Here’s how you can do it on your phone:

1. Open the Snapchat app and tap on your profile icon.
   
2. Tap the gear icon and select Delete Account.
   
3. On the Delete Account page, enter your Snapchat account ID and password, and tap the Continue button.
   

This method works for both Android and iPhone. Once your delete request is completed, Snapchat will delete all your saved messages, snaps, profile, and settings.

How to Delete Your Snapchat Account From Your Computer

Snapchat works on pretty much all desktop computers as well as Macs — yep, you can use Snapchat on your Mac. Accessing your account from your computer is the best way to use Snapchat without the iPhone or Android app.

You can also delete your Snapchat account from your computer.

1. Log into your Snapchat account from the official website on your PC and go to Account Settings.
   
2. Click on Delete my account.
   
3. Enter your Snapchat account credentials and click on the Continue button.
   

Snapchat will first deactivate your account and then delete it after 30 days. Make sure only to send a delete request for your Snapchat account after you have downloaded the data associated with it.

If you are deleting the account for privacy reasons, consider making your Snapchat account private instead.

Are You Sure You Want to Go?

Sometimes, people feel the only way to solve an issue within an app is to stop using it altogether. However, that might not be the case here. If you’re having trouble with Snapchat, try solving it another way before you delete your account.

Is Someone Bothering You?

If someone sends you unwanted and inappropriate content, you can easily block or report the user on Snapchat instead of deleting your profile. Snapchat support isn’t just for tips and tricks – they can also help you feel safer using this app.

You can contact the support team about a significant number of concerns and report a safety or abuse issue as well.

Are You Spending Too Much Time Using Snapchat?

If you think this app is too time-consuming and you can’t rely on self-discipline, some apps can limit your screen time and stop you from using the app once you’re over the limit.

Some of the best ones are Freedom, App Detox, or Space. And there are options for both Android and iPhone.

Get Rid of Snapchat for Good

Regardless of why you decided to get rid of your Snapchat account, it’s good to take a break from social media. If you’re serious about taking a social media detox, we recommend you delete your Instagram account as well.

You can always make a new account or log back into your old account if it allows you to reactive it within a certain grace period. For Snapchat, that period is 30 days. If you log back into your account within the initial 30 days of deleting it, Snapchat will restore your account as it was!

FAQs

Q. Will my friends know if I delete my Snapchat account?

A. While Snapchat doesn’t notify your friends when you delete your account, they might notice that you’re MIA if you send them snaps or messages frequently.

Q. Can I delete my Snapchat account without a password?

A. If you forgot your password or username and what to delete your Snapchat account, you can go to the Snapchat support page and submit a request to delete your account.

Q. Does deleting Snapchat delete saved photos?

A. Yes. When you delete your account, Snapchat will remove your data from its server 30 days after your request to delete your account.

Q. Can I restore my deleted Snapchat account?

A. Yes, if you log back into your Snapchat account within 30 days since you deleted it. You can’t restore your Snapchat account if it has been more than 30 days since you deleted it.