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How to Delete Instagram Account Permanently or Deactivate It Temporarily

Wondering how to deactivate Instagram account or permanently delete it? In this post, you can learn the tested methods. There are 2 ways to permanently delete your Instagram account and 2 ways to deactivate the account. Whether you want to reach the goal on your phone or computer, follow the steps below!

November 21, 2024

What is the Difference between Delete and Deactivate an Instagram Account?

Instagram Account Deleting vs Deactivating

Before going to the steps of how to delete Instagram account or deactivate it, let’s figure out the differences between them which can help you make the final decision.

Deactivate Instagram Account:

  • Temporarily: Your account is not viewable by the public.
  • Recoverable: You can reactivate your account at any time when you log in.
  • Data Preservation: Your likes, followers, videos, photos, and profile are all preserved.

Delete Instagram Account:

  • Permanently: Your account will be permanently deleted along with all of its content.
  • Irreversible: Your account and data cannot be recovered after deletion.

How to Deactivate Instagram Account Temporarily

If you want to keep your Instagram account, you can choose to temporarily deactivate the account. Deactivating the account will not remove your profile, photos, videos, likes, and comments. When you want to get back to Instagram, just log in to this account. But remember, you can only deactivate your account once in a week.

How to Deactivate Instagram Account on iPhone or Android

Step 1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile page.

Step 2. Click the 3-line button and click “Accounts Center” > “Personal details” > “Account ownership and control”.

Click Account Ownership and Control on Phone

Step 3. Click “Deactivate or deletion” and choose the account you want to deactivate. Then, choose “Deactivate account” and tap on the “Continue” button.

Instagram Deactivate Account on Phone

Step 4. Enter your password and click “Continue” > “Deactivate account” to deactivate your Instagram account.

How to Deactivate Instagram Account on Mac or Windows

Step 1. Enter the Instagram website and log in to your account.

Step 2. Click the 3-line button in the lower-left corner and choose “Settings”.

Step 3. Click “Accounts Center” > “Personal details” > “Account ownership and control” > “Deactivation or deletion”.

Access Accounts Center on Computer

Step 4. Choose the account you want to deactivate and select “Deactivate account”. Then, click the “Continue” button.

Deactivate Instagram Account on Computer

Step 5. Enter your password and click “Continue”. Then, tap “Deactivate account” to finish the deactivating process.

How to Delete Instagram Account Permanently

If you decide to abandon your account permanently, you can delete this account. After deleting it, your posts will be removed from this account and others can register with this username. You can also sign up with this username as long as this account does not violate the Community Guidelines.

There is one thing that should be noticed. The deletion will take effect immediately. After 30 days, your account and information will be permanently deleted. So, it is important to backup some important or precious photos and videos you posted before for memorizing.

How to Delete Instagram Account on iPhone or Android

Step 1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile page.

Step 2. Click the 3-line button and click “Accounts Center” > “Personal details” > “Account ownership and control”.

Click Account Ownership and Control on Phone

Step 3. Click “Deactivate or deletion” and choose the account you want to deactivate. Then, choose “Delete account” and click “Continue”.

How to Delete Your Instagram Account on Phone

Step 4. Choose the deleting reasons and tap “Continue” to finish the process.

How to Delete Instagram Account on Mac or Windows

Step 1. Enter the Instagram website and log in to your account.

Step 2. Click the 3-line button in the lower-left corner and choose “Settings”.

Step 3. Click “Accounts Center” > “Personal details” > “Account ownership and control” > “Deactivation or deletion”.

Access Accounts Center on Computer

Step 4. Choose the account you want to deactivate and select “Delete account”. Then, click the “Continue” button.

How to Erase Instagram Account on Computer

Step 5. Enter your password and click “Continue” to delete Instagram account on computer.

Quick Way to Backup Instagram Photos and Videos Before Deleting

Deleting an Instagram account will permanently delete all your posts which may contain masses of your beautiful memories. Therefore, it is necessary to backup your Instagram photos or videos to another place like a local folder or a cloud drive. To achieve this goal, you can use MultCloud Instagram Downloader, a professional and free Instagram image and video downloader.

MultCloud

Unlike other Instagram image downloader which may need you to download the app, MultCloud is a web-based service so that you can use it on any browser you like. Besides, instead of solely downloading photos and videos to the local, MultCloud Instagram Downloader also supports directly saving them to the cloud which is more flexible in expanding storage. As an industrial-leading cloud management service, MultCloud supports 30+ cloud drives, such as Google Drive, Google Photos, iCloud Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive, and so on. You can choose your preferred cloud as the destination.

The steps for using Instagram Downloader are easy. You can take the following steps are references.

Step 1. Sign up for a free account on the MultCloud website.

Step 2. Select "Instagram Downloader" in the upper place and enter the post URL in the search bar.

Enter Instagram Downloader

Step 3. Click "Save All Posts to Cloud" or "Download All Posts" to backup all the images and videos from Instagram to an external hard drive or your computer, or to a cloud drive.

Backup Instagram Posts

Notes:

  • If you choose to download all posts, you need to go to "Task List" to download the package to a local place after clicking the button.
  • If you prefer to backup all posts to the cloud, first you need to add a cloud drive to MultCloud. To add a cloud, you can select “Add Cloud” in the left sidebar and choose the cloud logo.
Add Cloud to MultCloud

Conclusion

In this post, you can learn the solutions on how to delete Instagram account on your phone or computer. After deleting, all your data will be removed and cannot be restored. However, you can choose to deactivate your account and there are also 2 ways to do that. Deactivating an account will keep your data and you can easily reactivate it by logging in.

What’s more, it will be a wise decision to backup your Instagram photos or videos before deleting and MultCloud Instagram Downloader is good at it. You can use this robust function to save Instagram photos and videos to the local or cloud with one click only.

  • Cloud Transfer: Directly transfer files between cloud storage services without downloading.
  • Cloud Sync: Real-time update files to another cloud and keeps files in syncing.
  • Cloud Backup: Auto-backup files to another cloud and support restoring by versions.
  • Email Migration: Save emails from Outlook or Gmail to the cloud as PDF files.
  • Remote Upload: Save files to the cloud with a link, torrent, or magnet.
  • Shares: Share cloud files with external users in a secure password-protecting way.
  • Save Webpage as PDF: Save Chrome webpage as a PDF or PNG file to the cloud or local.

Quickly transfer, sync or backup files from one cloud to another.

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