Sick of Elon? Here's How to Delete Your Twitter Account

The Elon-Exodus

On the 28th of October 2022, Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, officially took over the Twitter nest. As the $44 million deal went through, Musk posted a video on the platform of him walking into Twitter's San Francisco headquarters carrying a sink with the comment, “Let that sink in.”

Musk wasted no time in making his mark. His first action was to fire Twitter's top executives, having them escorted from the building. This was swiftly followed up by dissolving the board of directors (making him the sole owner).

He also introduced a $8 monthly fee for the blue-check verification for individual accounts. If you're a brand or organization, that fee jumps to $1000 a month.

It's an understatement to say that Elon's Twitter takeover has divided user opinion.

While plenty of Musk-ateers are delighted with the new “Chief Twit”, there are many users concerned that Musk's absolutist view on free speech will open the floodgates to even more hate speech, fake news, and misinformation— which have long since plagued the platform.

It's a fear that Musk himself is inadvertently fueling.

Just days after his acquisition he tweeted (and has since deleted) an unfounded and anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory from a “news” website with a history of publishing false information. And with reports that appearances of the “N-word” on the platform have surged by 500% since his takeover, it's no wonder that Twitter account deactivations are also rising drastically.

It's decisions and actions like these that are causing a mass exodus. Monthly users have fallen by 15% and ad revenue plummeted by 54%.

If you also want to join the leaving party before X finally crashes and burns into the horrible “free-for-all-hellscape” that has been predicted, then here's what you have to do.

How to delete your Twitter account

Deleting your Twitter account isn't as simple as just clicking a “delete” button. There is a process involved. To tell you how to delete your Twitter account, we first have to tell you how to deactivate your Twitter account.

This puts your account into a 30-day holding period. As long as you don't login into your Twitter account for 30 days, it will be deleted.

It can be a bit annoying to wait but it does give you a window to reactivate it should you change your mind.

But before you hit the deactivate button, there are two things you might want to do... Download your Twitter archive and unlink any third-party apps.

Download X/Twitter Archive

If you've been an avid or long-term user, you might be reluctant to leave behind all your Twitter data. This step lets you pack your bags before you leave. You can take with you your profile information, Tweets, direct messages, moments, all media, and even your list of followers, accounts you follow, your address book, and much more.

On the left-hand side navigation bar, click on More > Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Your Account > Download an archive of your data.

You'll then be asked to verify your password. Twitter will send a code to your email address. Enter the code, and then you can click Request Archive to download everything as a .zip folder.

Inside the folder, you'll find an HTML file called Your Archive. Click on this and it will open a new tab in your default browser. It's not a website but an interactive and streamlined way to view your entire Twitter account.

So you can relive the good old days and pretend that Musk never happened.

Unlink third-party apps

Before you deactivate your Twitter account make sure to unlink any third-party apps you've previously given Twitter access rights. Otherwise, they could reactivate your account during the 30-day deactivation period.

You can do this by following these steps:

Menu > Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Security & Account Access > Apps & Sessions > Connected Apps.

How to deactivate your Twitter account

Now you have all of your Twitter memories and data safely downloaded, it's time to learn how to deactivate your Twitter account.

Follow the same route from the navigation menu on the left-hand side: More > Settings & Support > Settings & Privacy > Your Account > Deactivate Your Account.

You'll then be asked for your password. Confirm that you want to continue by clicking the Deactivate account button. Then, don't log back in for 30 days.

After the 30 days have passed, your Twitter account will be no more.

The above instructions are for how to delete your Twitter account using a PC. If you want to delete your Twitter on iPhone or Android, the Twitter Help Center has detailed instructions.

What if you change your mind?

Perhaps Elon will manage to make X a better place than Twitter ever was and you want to come back. If you change your mind within 30 days, you can simply log back into and confirm you wish to reactivate your X account. You'll be taken directly to your home timeline and in a few minutes all your Tweets (exes?), likes, and followers will be restored.

If it's after the 30 days, however, then, too bad. You won't be able to reactivate your account and you will have to sign up again as a new user.

So, you know how to delete your Twitter account. What's next?

If you still want to connect with the netizens of the world there are Twitter alternatives. They might not have the same reach as the blue bird giant, but with so many Twitter users leaving the nest, perhaps that will change.

Of course, you still have the old faithfuls of Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. All of which, have their own issues with privacy and security, amongst other things.

Facebook also launched Threads which was supposed to be a "Twitter killer", but after a promising start, daily Thread users dropped by 82%.

Many Twitter migrants are making the move to the new decentralized social network, Mastodon. Apparently, Mastodon hit a record high of 70,000 new sign-ups the day after Musk walked in with his sink. Mastodon has also been trending on Twitter as people begin sharing directions to their new profile.

Image: Twitter

For anyone ready to wave bye-bye birdie, you now know how to delete your Twitter account. If it's not Musk you're running from, but you want to escape social media in general, then check out our blogs on how to delete accounts on Reddit, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and Discord.