The exact steps on an iPhone, what happens to your account after, and what to check before you press it.
To delete Instagram on iPhone: tap your profile picture › the menu › Accounts Center › Profiles and personal details › Manage next to your account › Deactivation or deletion › Delete account › Continue. Your profile is hidden at once and deleted for good after a cancellation window, usually 30 days. To pause instead, choose Deactivate account: everything is hidden until you log back in, and you can do it once a week. Download your data first, because you lose access to it after deleting.
Both start in Accounts Center. Some accounts show Meta Account instead; the steps inside are the same.
Hides your profile, photos, comments and likes until you log back in.
Logging in again, anywhere, reactivates it.
Removes your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers for good.
You need to be able to log in. Instagram can't delete an account for you.
On a computer or in Safari, the same steps start at instagram.com › More › Settings › Accounts Center.
Meta may keep some information longer for legal reasons, such as terms violations or preventing harm. You can sign up again with the same username if nobody has taken it.
After deleting, the export tool is gone too. The export can take a while to prepare, so start it first.
Accounts Center › Your information and permissions › Export your information › Create export.
Threads is tied to your Instagram profile. You can delete Threads on its own, and after deleting it you wait 90 days to make a new one with the same profile. Decide what you want with Threads before you delete Instagram.
If you deactivate, then log in on a bad evening, the account is back and you can't deactivate again for a week. Logging in on any device or browser counts, so log out of saved sessions first.
Most people don't want to leave their friends. They want to stop losing evenings to the feed. Those are two different problems, with two different fixes.
That's the option in between. Off the Hook keeps your friends, DMs and stories in a calm Instagram on your iPhone, without Reels, Explore or suggestions. The real app stays locked, and opening it costs a short break.
Deactivating hides your profile, photos, comments and likes until you log back in. Deleting permanently removes your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers, usually 30 days after you ask.
Yes, within the cancellation window, usually 30 days, by logging back in. After that the account and its content are gone for good. Meta says the window varies by region.
Once a week. If you reactivate on impulse, you have to wait before you can deactivate again.
Yes. Older guides say it only works on the web, but Instagram now lets you deactivate from the app, a mobile browser or a computer.
Facebook is a separate profile in Accounts Center and is deleted on its own. Threads can be deleted separately from Instagram. Check your Threads profile before you delete Instagram, since older help pages said it goes with it.
Usually because the people are there. Group chats, a friend's stories, the event invite. Studies of complete breaks from social media find little lasting effect, while cutting back holds up better. If you keep coming back, keep the people and remove the feed instead: see how to stop doomscrolling.
Off the Hook is coming to iPhone. Get one text the day it's out.
One text when we launch. Nothing else.
Off the Hook