How to permanently delete your Reddit account

If you’ve decided it’s time to leave Reddit, whether to improve your online privacy, as part of a break from social media, or just because you don’t use it anymore, deleting your account is quick once you know how. This guide walks you through the steps, explains what to do before deleting (like saving your data), and covers what happens to your posts and comments after your account is gone.

Why delete your Reddit account?

Many users choose to delete their Reddit accounts to better protect their privacy and reduce their digital footprint. While Reddit doesn’t require you to use your real name, personal details shared through posts, comments, or participation in local communities can still make it possible for others to identify you.

Deleting your account also limits the amount of personal data available to Reddit, advertisers, and third parties. This concern grew in early 2024 when Reddit announced an expanded partnership with Google, allowing programmatic access to public Reddit posts and comments through its Data API.

According to Reddit, this helps Google improve its products and train models, but the move raised privacy concerns among users who don’t want their online posts and comments to be part of large-scale data sharing and AI training efforts.

Learn more: Find out if Reddit is a safe platform to use and see what data it collects.

Things to know before deleting your Reddit account

Before you delete your Reddit account, it helps to understand what options you do and don’t have and what happens to your data afterward.

Can I deactivate my Reddit account instead?

Reddit doesn’t allow you to temporarily deactivate your account, so you can’t pause it and return later. You can simply stop using the account, but your posts and comments will remain visible, which may defeat the purpose if you want to remove your presence from the platform.

Keep in mind that once you delete your account, it’s permanently removed, and even Reddit administrators can’t restore it. So, make sure you’re certain you’d like to do this before proceeding.

What happens to my data after deletion?

When you delete your Reddit account, your profile is permanently removed from the platform. This includes disconnecting your username from your post and comment history, karma, cake day, avatar, and any other profile details you’ve added. Even if someone has a direct link to your profile, they’ll see a message indicating that the account has been deleted.

Your username is also removed and becomes unusable. You won’t be able to log in with it again, and Reddit doesn’t allow anyone else to register the same username in the future.

However, not everything tied to your account disappears. Your public posts and comments remain visible to others, but they’re disassociated from your username and displayed under a “[deleted]” tag.

This means that any personally identifiable or sensitive information you’ve shared will remain visible to others. Even though your username is gone, anyone browsing Reddit or using a search engine like Google can still find and view your content.

If you want your posts or comments gone entirely, you’ll need to remove them manually before deleting your account. When a post is deleted, the direct link to it will still exist, though the post itself will be gone. It won’t appear in Reddit search results.

The same applies to your messages and chats. Any messages you’ve sent or chat conversations you’ve taken part in will still exist for recipients, but they’ll no longer be linked to your username. Non-persistent chat messages can be deleted before account deletion.

Reddit’s Privacy Policy also notes that the company begins a process to remove or anonymize your data after deletion. Please note that Reddit may keep certain data records for legitimate business purposes and as required by law.

Keep in mind that deleting your account doesn’t cancel your Reddit Premium subscription. You’ll need to cancel it manually to avoid further charges.

• If you subscribed through Apple ID or Google Pay, you can cancel it from your device’s subscription settings.
• If you subscribed directly via Reddit, you can manage the subscription through your account settings on the Reddit website.

How to back up or remove your Reddit content

While you can go ahead and delete your Reddit account immediately, it’s a good idea to first download a copy of your data and remove any posts or comments you don’t want to remain public. Deleting your posts and comments manually prevents them from staying visible under a “deleted” username after your account is gone.

How to download your Reddit data

You can request a copy of your Reddit data any time before deleting your account. Note that it may take up to 30 days for Reddit to prepare your data.

You can only request your data via a web browser. Here’s how:

1. Log into your Reddit account.
2. Visit the Reddit data request page.
3. Depending on your location, choose General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), or Other.
   
4. Specify the date range of the data you’d like to export. Alternatively, you can select I want data from my full time at Reddit to cover your entire Reddit account timeline. Click Submit.
5. Download a copy of your data. You’ll get a message in your Reddit inbox once your data is ready, with a link to download it.
   

How to delete Reddit posts

Once you’ve downloaded your data, you can start deleting your Reddit posts. It’s possible to delete your Reddit posts via the web or mobile app.

Keep in mind that Reddit doesn’t allow you to bulk delete posts; they must be dealt with one at a time. If you have a large number of posts, the methods below may take considerable time. In that case, you can contact Reddit for assistance with bulk deletion by emailing redditdatarequests@reddit.com from your registered email address.

How to delete your Reddit posts on desktop

1. Log into your Reddit account.
2. Click your profile icon in the upper right corner. Select View Profile.
   
3. Tap Posts and click the three-dots icon at the top right of the post you’d like to delete.
   
4. Select Delete.
   
5. Tap Yes, Delete to confirm your choice.
   

How to delete your Reddit posts on mobile

1. Launch your Reddit mobile app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the upper right corner.
   
3. Select Profile.
   
4. Choose the Posts tab and tap the three-dots icon at the top right of the post you’d like to delete.
   
5. Tap Delete post.
   
6. Tap Yes, Delete to confirm your choice.
   

How to delete Reddit comments

You can delete your Reddit comments in a similar way to how you delete posts.

How to delete your Reddit comments on desktop

1. Log into your Reddit account.
2. Click your profile icon in the upper right corner. Select View Profile.
   
3. Choose Comments and click the three-dots icon below the comment you’d like to delete.
   
4. Select Delete comment.
   
5. Confirm your choice by clicking Delete.
   

How to delete your Reddit comments on mobile

1. Open your Reddit mobile app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the upper right corner.
   
3. Select Profile.
   
4. Tap Comments.
   
5. Open the comment you want to delete and tap the three-dots icon beneath it.
   
6. Select Delete.
   
7. Tap Delete again on the pop-up to confirm your choice.
   

How to delete Reddit chat messages

You can delete messages you’ve sent in direct chats, group chats, and chat channels. However, you can’t remove messages that others have sent, either to you in private chats or in public channels. When you delete one of your messages, it disappears for everyone in the conversation, not just you.

How to delete your Reddit chat messages on desktop

Hover over the message you want to delete and click the trash icon.

How to delete your Reddit chat messages on mobile

Press and hold your message, then select Delete message.

If persistent messaging is enabled in a direct chat, neither person can delete their messages.

Note: If protecting your privacy is a priority, it’s worth reviewing a few other considerations.

How to delete your Reddit account

Once you’ve deleted posts, comments, and messages you don’t want to remain on the platform, you can follow the steps below to complete the account deletion process.

Delete Reddit account on desktop

1. Log into your Reddit account.
2. Click your profile icon and select Settings.
   
3. In the Accounts tab, scroll down and click Delete account.
   
4. You can choose to add a reason for leaving, but it’s optional. Re-enter your account username and password in the provided fields.
   
5. Check the consent box to accept that you can’t recover deleted Reddit content. Click Delete to finalize the process.

Delete Reddit account on Android

1. Open the Reddit app on your Android phone.
2. Tap the profile icon in the upper right corner and select Settings.
   
3. Go to Account settings for your profile (u/yourusername).
   
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Delete account.
   
5. If you signed up using a phone number and never set a password, you’ll receive a six-digit confirmation code that you’ll need to enter. Otherwise, confirm your choice by tapping Yes, delete.
   

Delete Reddit account on iPhone

1. Open your Reddit app.
2. Tap the account icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
   
3. Scroll down and tap Delete account.
   
4. If you signed up using a phone number and never set a password, you’ll receive a six-digit confirmation code you’ll need to enter. Otherwise, tap Continue.
   
5. You will be prompted to sign into your account again. After that, confirm your decision by tapping Yes, Delete.
   

How to clear Reddit search and browsing history

Your Reddit browsing history, including the pages you’ve viewed and searches you’ve made, is stored in your web browser. Clearing this data prevents anyone with access to your device from viewing traces of your Reddit activity after your account has been deleted. The exception is if you’ve been using incognito mode, which doesn’t save history by default.

To delete this information, open your browser’s settings and clear your browsing history and cached data.