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Deleting is permanent, and it does not delete your posts. Comments stay visible with the username replaced by [deleted]. If you want the content gone too, edit or remove it before you close the account, because access disappears the moment the account does.
Do these things first
- Request your data. Account settings include a data request option. It takes a while to arrive by email, so start it before anything else if you want a copy of your history.
- Deal with your posts and comments. Deleting the account leaves them up. If it matters to you, work through your profile and delete or edit the ones you care about. Editing the text to something neutral before deleting is what people do when they want the words gone rather than just the attribution.
- Hand over moderator duties. If you moderate anything, add another moderator first. A community left without an active mod ends up in a removal queue and the other people there lose out.
- Cancel any paid subscription. Cancel through wherever you pay, meaning the app store if you signed up on a phone. Deleting the account is not the same as cancelling a recurring charge.
- Note the username. Once the account is gone the name cannot be registered again, including by you.
How to delete the account
The path is roughly Settings, then the Account section, with the delete option at the very bottom. Menu names and layout change over time and differ between the app and the website, so if the wording does not match what you see, look for a search box inside settings or scroll to the end of the account page.
- Open Reddit in a desktop browser and log in to the account you want gone.
- Go to your account settings from the profile menu in the top corner.
- Open the account tab and scroll to the bottom of the page.
- Choose the delete option and confirm with your username and password.
- Tick the confirmation box and submit. You are logged out once it goes through.
What actually happens to your stuff
| Item | After deletion |
|---|---|
| Posts and comments | Stay up, author shows as [deleted] |
| Username | Retired, cannot be registered again |
| Karma and trophies | Gone with the profile |
| Direct messages | Your side goes, the other person may still see the thread |
| Saved posts and subscriptions | Gone, and not recoverable |
| Screenshots and third party archives | Outside Reddit’s control entirely |
If you only want a break
There is no temporary deactivation that you can switch back on later, so the usual approach is simply to log out and stop visiting. Clearing the app from your phone and removing the saved login from your browser does most of the work. That keeps the door open, which matters more than people expect, because deletion cannot be undone and plenty of people regret it about a month later.
