Also: Why is Twitter turning millions of accounts into defenseless targets? Now, since Elon Musk appears to be failing in his promise not to turn Twitter into a Hellscape, a new flood of individuals are looking for greener pastures. Given the chaos at the company, it’s more important than ever for you and your data to handle that exit the right way. Unlike most sites that we frequent on the web, leaving Twitter isn’t as simple as signing off for the final time and never going back. That’s because of the massive amounts of data sites like this collect about us while we’re using them. To ensure that Twitter won’t continue exploiting your data after you’ve gone, you need to take the proper steps to fully delete your account and all of the data tied to it on your way out. Also: Ditching Twitter? How to get started with Mastodon In this guide, we’ll explain how to do just that, as well as how to take all of your valuable data with you. Follow along with the steps here and you’ll be done with Twitter. Or, if you change your mind and decide you just can’t quit the microblogging service, we’ll tell you how to undo the process as well.
How to delete your Twitter account
Reactivating your Twitter account
Unsurprisingly, Twitter makes the process of reactivating your Twitter account much easier than archiving it or deleting it. All you’ll need to do is log into your account within 30 days or 12 months (whichever you chose when deactivating it). Once you’re logged in, you’ll receive a notice asking if you want to reactivate your account. If you choose Yes, you’ll be immediately directed to your restored Home page. Also: Stop using Twitter to log in to other websites Because of this, the first step you should take when deciding to delete your account is to unlink all third-party services tied to your account. The steps to doing that follow: Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to actually delete your account without any worry that some forgotten app you attached to your Twitter profile years ago will accidentally foil your attempt to leave. Also: I started my own Mastodon server on a Raspberry Pi. Here’s what I learned It may not seem like your Twitter data will be too valuable in the long run. But, if you ever need to access a link you shared (or was shared with you), you need proof of some previous exchange, or you eventually come back to twitter and you want a list of following or followed accounts, all of these things are included in your downloaded archive. For this bit, you’ll need to use the Twitter website. None of its mobile apps offer this option. The process is almost identical whether you access the website via desktop browser or mobile browser. The steps of the process follow: Once you’ve done this, you’ll receive a notification that the process can take up to 24 hours for processing. Once the archive is ready, you’ll receive a mobile push notification via your Twitter mobile app, and an email. Both notifications will provide a link that will automatically take you to your Settings page on the Twitter website. There you can download the prepared archive of your data. What you’ll actually download is a Zip file that you can expand into a folder with two important items inside: an HTML file titled Your Archive and a Data folder that contains all of the media you posted to Twitter, such as uploaded videos, images, and animated .gifs. Also: How to delete yourself from internet search results and hide your identity online The HTML file will open in your browser, where you’ll be able to navigate through it much like you would the Twitter website. The Data folder can be navigated like any folder on your desktop or smartphone. Within it, you can play/view your media locally, assuming the media type is supported by your current device. Once this is done, you’ve got your data and you can proceed to the final step. If anything within that data is precious to you, we’d highly recommend that you back it up, either locally, or to a cloud storage service of your choice. Next, let’s finally get rid of that account.
Deleting your account on your PC:
Deleting your account on mobile:
Once you’ve run through this process on desktop or mobile, just wait out your chosen reactivation period. At the end of 30 days or 12 months, your account, and all of its accompanying data, will be deleted forever. However, if you change your mind within the aforementioned timeframes, read on to find out how to reactivate your Twitter account. Also: The best Twitter alternatives It might take some time for Twitter to fully restore all of your account’s contents, including followers, media, and past tweets and DMs, so don’t panic if something is missing when you land back on your homepage.
Coming back to Twitter after deleting your account
One final note: If you choose, somewhere down the road, to return to Twitter after your 30-day or 12-month period has expired, you’ll need to sign up for a completely new account. In Depth: These experts are racing to protect AI from hackers. Time is running out If you’d like to reuse the same handle you had previously, you’ll have to hope that no one chose it as their username in the meantime. Once an account is deleted, anyone signing up can claim that account’s username as their own. If someone selected your username while you were away, you’re out of luck and will need to choose something new. If you’re absolutely determined to keep your existing username from being claimed by anyone else, you can leave your account active and set it to Protected in the Audience and tagging section of your Settings and privacy menu. Just be aware that, while this will prevent sharing of your tweets via the usual channels, and will forbid new accounts from following you, all of your existing data will remain on Twitter’s servers for any use they see fit to put it to. Also: NSA says: Do these things to keep your home network safe from cyberattack Please note, Twitter will not let a new account claim your handle if you’re within your chosen reactivation period. Twitter keeps your username reserved for you until that reactivation period expires.
