How do I close my Instagram account
There is more than one meaning that can be referred to when we search for an answer to the question, “How do I close my Instagram account?” Either the account is made private or Lock, and the other meaning is that you close the account permanently, meaning that the account is deleted.
Whatever goal you seek by locking the Instagram account, we will help you reach it.
How do I lock my Instagram account – make it private?
- First, open the application on the phone and log in to Instagram.
- In the bottom bar of the application, you will find your icon image on the right side, click on it.
- Now you will be taken directly to your personal account on Instagram.
- From within the account, click on the three lines that come on the right side of the upper bar.
- To show you a list of options at the beginning of the Settings option, click on it.
- From within the settings, you will go to the Privacy option.
- Then in the first option, click on a private account, then click on it.
- A pop-up window will appear explaining to you some of the features of locking the Facebook account, so agree to it.
- Now the option will be activated.
In this way, no one will be able to access your Instagram account without your consent, and the same applies to your personal photos or story.
Once the Instagram account becomes private, new people will not be able to visit your account, as they will be able to search for the account, and when they access it, they will only see the name and profile picture.
Where this person will press the follow button in order to follow you on Instagram, but he will not be able to follow you unless you agree to that, and only then will he be able to see your photos and your stories.
How do I close my Instagram account – delete the account?
But if what is meant by locking the account is to permanently delete it through the Instagram platform, then the situation here will be different.
No one will be able to reach you because your account will not exist on the platform.
Some may see that as soon as you remove the Instagram application from the phone, you have actually locked the account, but this is not true. There are some settings that you have to do from within the application so that the account becomes permanently closed.
Before deleting an Instagram account – download the data
Before you actually delete the Instagram account permanently, you must download your data from that account, in case you want to view it.
Because once the account is permanently deleted, this data will no longer exist, and this data includes chats between you and others, posts, photos, videos, and a lot of other data.
- Log in to the Instagram application on the phone.
- Go to the side menu.
- Then to the Settings option.
- Then to the Security option.
- At the bottom of the list of options, go to Download Data.
- On this page, you will be asked to add your email and click on the Request Download button.
- Then you will be asked to enter your password in order to confirm the data download request.
- At the end, you will see a notification that you agree to download the data.
- Now you have to wait for two days to be able to download this data.
- Go to the email and you will find a message from Instagram management.
- You will find a link to download the data, click on it.
- The file will be downloaded directly to your account.
Temporarily suspend Instagram account
Also, before permanently suspending the Instagram account, you are able to do a temporary suspension for it, through the following steps:
- Open your account on Instagram through the website, not the application.
- Go to your personal account, then to settings, then to the bottom of the page.
- You will see this option Temporarily Deactivate Your Account, click on it.
- You will see a question about your desire to stop the account and choose the appropriate answer.
- Then enter your password and press the confirm button.
Now the account will remain temporarily suspended until you log in to it again at any time convenient for you.
Permanently delete an Instagram account
- Very simply and without any settings, enter the following account deletion link: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/remove/request/permanent/ .
- A question will appear to you about your desire to delete the account, and choose the appropriate answer for you.
- Then you will be asked to enter the password and press the Confirm Account Deletion button.
- Now a pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm the deletion of the account, and then click on the Confirm button.
In the end, a message will appear informing you of the date of closing the account permanently, which will be in most cases within fourteen days, and if you want to return to your account again, you must open the account again during this period.
In the event that you do not want to do so, you must wait until this period has passed, and the account will be completely and permanently closed.
After that, you can remove the Instagram application from the phone, and that’s it.