It will take 30 days to completely delete your Twitter account.
Sarah Tu/CNET
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring Company, has struck a $44 billion deal with social media giant Twitter. If Musk buys the company (pending approval from Twitter shareholders), there could be significant changes, not just an edit button.
If you’re wary of deleting your Twitter account, we’ll explain your options below, including whether you can change your mind to deactivate your account.
How to delete a Twitter account on your phone
Here’s how to delete your Twitter account from your phone. Note that you may need to create an archive of tweets before closing your account. Here’s how to download all your tweets.
1. Log in to your Twitter account and click the profile icon in the upper left corner.
2. In the side menu, scroll down and click Settings and Privacy.
3. choose your account > deactivate your account.
4. Choose a reactivation period: 30 days or 12 months.
5. tap Disable.
6. You will be prompted to enter your password and click Disable confirm.
Depending on the reactivation period you choose, you may revoke your decision at any time and reactivate your account before that period expires (see below). Otherwise, your account will be permanently deleted after the reactivation period.
How to delete your Twitter account on your computer
If you’re using Twitter on your computer’s web browser, here’s how to delete your account. Again, before you close it, consider creating an archive of your tweets.
1. Log in to your Twitter account.
2. In the left menu, select more > Settings and Privacy.
3. Under the Your Account section, click deactivate your account.
4. Choose one of the reactivation periods: 30 days or 12 months.
5. click Disable.
6. You will then be prompted for your password, and you will confirm that you want to continue by clicking close account.
If you change your mind, see below how to undo your account suspension. Otherwise, your account will be deleted.
Yes, you can reactivate your Twitter account, but only for so long.
Sarah Tu/CNET
Unlink any third-party apps from your account
While you may have clicked the button to deactivate your account, Twitter notes that third-party apps can reactivate your account when you log in. To prevent this from happening, you’ll need to revoke access to your Twitter account from a third-party app, such as an app that automatically deletes old tweets.
To get started, log into your Twitter account and visit Settings and Privacy > Security and Account Access > Apps and Sessions > connected app. You will then select one application at a time and click Revoke app permissions.
How to reactivate your Twitter account
If you change your mind, you can reactivate your account at any time for up to 30 days or 12 months, depending on the choices you make. Here’s how to do it.
1. Log in to your account.
2. You’ll see a notification asking if you want to reactivate your account. If you choose Yes, you will be redirected to your Twitter homepage timeline. Note that it may take a while for your tweets and followers to recover.
For more information, here’s how to change your privacy settings on Twitter, how to delete old tweets, why people leave Netflix, and how to cancel your subscription.
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