How to Delete an Instagram Account: Find Your Situation

"How do I delete an Instagram account" can mean several different things depending on whose account it is and whether you still have access to it. Find the situation below that matches yours.

Deleting your own main account

If you want to permanently delete the Instagram account you actually use, the process is the same one Instagram provides for everyone: log in, open the delete your account form, choose a reason, re-enter your password, and confirm. Our full step-by-step guide walks through every screen, and backing up your data first is worth doing since deletion cannot be undone after 30 days.

Deleting a second or spare account

Lots of people end up with a spare or test account they made years ago and no longer need. The steps are identical to deleting a main account - you just need to be logged in as that account specifically, not your primary one. If Instagram has you signed into multiple accounts on the same app, double-check the username shown at the top of the screen before you confirm deletion, so you don't accidentally delete the wrong profile.

You cannot delete someone else's account

Only the account owner, logged in with the correct username and password, can request that an account be deleted. There is no way for a third party to do this on someone's behalf, including:

• A parent, spouse, or other family member
• A friend who knows the person's login details
• Instagram support acting on a verbal or written request from someone other than the account holder
• This site, or any other outside service

If you don't control the account, the only path forward is getting the actual owner to log in and follow the steps themselves.

If the account belongs to someone who has passed away

Instagram handles deceased users' accounts through its own separate process, not the standard account-deletion form. Immediate family members can request that Instagram either memorialize the account or remove it entirely, but this has to go through Instagram directly, with documentation, and is decided and carried out entirely on Instagram's end. This site has no ability to submit that request or speed it up.

Locked out and can't log in

You can't delete an account without logging into it first, so if you've lost access, that has to be fixed before anything else. See our guide on what to do when you can't remember your password for ways to regain access, then come back and follow the deletion steps above once you're back in.