How to deactivate your account on Twitter

Twitter’s a convenient way to get your memes, world news, and pop culture hot takes all in one place. Being active on Twitter requires you to filter through the daily flood of harmful characters. QAnon, white supremacistsBots, deepfakes, and. Additional information: A recent management changeYou might be strongly considering bailing. And there’s no denying the stress and anxiety that the fast pace of Twitter’s news cycle and the strain of constantly debating reply guys can bring.

Don’t worry: it doesn’t have to be permanent. If you find yourself feeling empty and directionless after doing this — or if you can’t stand not knowing what’s going on with the new management — you can get your account back up to 30 days after the fact. You can also return to this article to continue the steps if things get too overwhelming. There’s a whole world outside of your timeline to explore.

If you’re on a computer or in a mobile browser, go to Twitter.comLog in to access your account. To deactivate:

There’s going to be a lot of information on the page before you get to that link, some of which is pretty useful. There’s a full description of what will no longer be viewable (your display name, @username, and public profile), an assurance that you can restore your account “for some time” if it was accidentally or wrongfully deleted, and a way to reactivate after 30 days or 12 months (useful if you’re being besieged and want to take a vacation from Twitter rather than delete your account entirely).

These links can be used to modify your name, link your existing name to another account, or download your Twitter information. This is a great idea to do before you delete an account. here’s the link.

If you’re using a smartphone, go to the Twitter app and make sure you’re logged in.

Deactivating your account can be a hassle, but to Twitter’s credit, it’s much more straightforward than the process of deleting some other services, such as Uber and Lyft.

You are now without Twitter. Congratulations! But what will you do now that you don’t have a never-ending barrage of tweets to scroll through? Here are some ideas for what you can do with your free time. (And keep an eye open — there may be even more showing up in the future.)

Update October 28, 2022, 10 :10 ET:This article was published originally on February 25, 2020. It has been updated to reflect interface changes and current events.