Hi friends! Ok, I’m like 4 or 5 weeks late with this one, but you know what? We’re here now. I’ve been trying to do less on the computer when I don’t have to be, and maybe soon you will too!

Let’s get right into it!

Submit Your Accounts for Deletion

Yep, you read that right—you’ve updated your logins, you’ve downloaded all your data, you’ve manually removed content maybe, and now it’s finally time to delete, delete, delete!

Let’s run down the list…

Facebook & Messenger

They’re a bundle set, so deleting Facebook will also delete Messenger.

Start here (sign into your account first if needed): https://accountscenter.facebook.com/personal_info/account_ownership_and_control

• Select Deactivation or deletion
• Select the account to delete
• Select Delete account (it’s a radio button selection) and click the Continue button
• Tell them why you’re leaving (maybe because you have a privacy concern?)
• Keep going through the process (they’ll give you some warnings and whatnot, feel free to read through, but hopefully you’ve already downloaded your data and you’re good to go!)
• You’ll be prompted for your password eventually, enter it to continue
• Finish the job!

Instagram & Threads

Good news! The process is the same as for Facebook above! Do it again, but this time select your Instagram account! (If you don’t see it, try signing in again with your Instagram login in case it’s not connected to your Facebook profile.) To the best of my knowledge, it looks like if you delete the Instagram account that your Threads profile is linked to, you will also be deleting your Threads profile. Another two-fer!

WhatsApp

Gotta do this one in the app.

• Open the app and go to Settings
• Tap Account
• Tap Delete my account
• Enter your phone number and tap Delete my account

Twitter/X

Start here (sign into your account first if needed): https://x.com/settings/deactivate

• Click Deactivate at the bottom
• Enter your account password and click the big red Deactivate button

Your account will be deleted after 30 days if you don’t log into it again, so don’t log into it again.

TikTok

Gotta do this one in the app too, so open the app first!

• In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom
• Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top
• Tap Settings and privacy
• Tap Account, then tap Deactivate or delete account
• Tap Delete account permanently
• Tell them why you want to leave (go ahead and choose Safety or privacy concerns if you’re not sure)
• Tap Continue
• They’ll show you any tasks to complete (usually money based)—if you have money to take out, do that first!
• Continue through the instructions until you’ve deleted it!

It’s a wrap!

Well, we’ve done it! The four part series of deleting all your social media accounts and sticking it to Zuck and Elmo is over! If you didn’t finish, or it wasn’t the right time for you, I get it! This series will still be here when you’re ready, and I’d guess the instructions will be pretty much the same (though they do like to move around those menus, don’t they?).

Anyways, I hope you found this helpful, and I hope you feel a little bit lighter when it’s all done. You might even find yourself texting your friends, or even better, making plans to see them in person rather than feeling like you did because you’ve seen their profile picture on the internet somewhere.

We’ll get back to our regular programming just as soon as I feel up for it!

Keep on keepin’ on,
KL