Do you want to take a break from social media, or has your Instagram* profile temporarily become irrelevant and you decided to delete it? We explain how to do this while preserving all the most important data.

Why Temporarily Delete Your Instagram* Profile

Photographer: Brian Ramirez: https://www.pexels.com/ru-ru/photo/8488289/

Many social media users occasionally feel the desire to delete their profile. For some, constant message notifications prevent them from working. Others managed a business account but then decided to start a new blog and develop it in a different direction. Some simply lost interest in blogging. Or they created a new profile and decided to freeze the old one.

Sometimes, profile owners run out of ideas for content. Hint: In this case, you can turn to neural networks, which will offer dozens of new ideas in a matter of seconds and even generate a content plan. The main thing is to make the right request, or prompt. Then — write the required number of posts and schedule their release. In this case, there will be no need to delete anything. Not even temporarily.

Delete Temporarily or Permanently

There is a difference between temporary deactivation and account deletion. When you deactivate a profile, the photos, comments, and tags will be hidden from all users. As soon as you reactivate it, all this will become available again.

However, if you delete your profile permanently, all content, followers, and likes will also be permanently deleted. By the way, before deleting the profile, Instagram* will offer to save data from it. After deletion, the account will be available to users for another 30 days. Only then, if you haven't logged into the profile during this time, will it be automatically deleted.

How to Temporarily Delete an Instagram* Profile from a Phone

Deleting a profile on Instagram* is the same on both iPhone and Android.

Step 1

Log into your account and tap on the hamburger menu (three lines) in the upper right corner of the screen.

Step 2

Select "Account Center," then — "Personal Information."

Step 3

Click "Account Management" ("Ownership and Account Management"). After that, choose "Deactivation or Deletion."

Step 4

Now you need to select the account you want to delete (if there are several).

Step 5

Choose "Account Deactivation" if you want to take a break from using the social network profile. Then — click "Continue."

Step 6

At this stage, you need to enter your password and click the "Continue" button.

Step 7

Now you will need to specify the reason for deactivation and then click "Continue."

Step 8

You can now click "Deactivate Account."

How to Deactivate an Instagram* Profile from a Computer

The process of deactivating an account on Instagram* on a PC matches most of the steps, but there is a small difference at the very beginning.

Step 1

Log into your Instagram* account and find "More" (hamburger menu) in the lower-left corner of the screen. Then select "Settings."

Step 2

Select "Account Center," then — "Personal Information."

All other steps match the steps in the iPhone and Android versions.

Important Nuances

You can deactivate your account no more than once a week. And to reactivate it, you need to log into the profile. After that, you can start using the account again.

* The company Meta (Instagram and Facebook) is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia since 21.03.2022.