Step By Step Process On How To Delete A Reddit Account

Woah, you’re fed up with Reddit already? Cause if you’re here reading about how to delete a Reddit account, then you must really be tired of the site.

Just like most social media sites, Reddit can be unforgiving and cruel especially to new users who haven’t yet figured out the kinks of using Reddit.

I’ll explain how to delete your Reddit account easily using the step-by-step process below. Just about anybody should be able to follow the process.

How To Delete A Reddit Account

Note: You can’t use Reddit’s mobile app to delete your account. You can use a desktop browser or your mobile phone browser.

Step 1:- Open your browser and navigate to Reddit. 

Follow the sign-in demands and input your details where necessary.

Step 2:- Click on the dropdown arrow beside your user name and select the “User Settings” option.

Step 3:- Now that you’ve opened User Settings, search for and click on the Account tab.

When the Account tab opens, navigate down to the bottom of the page and click on Deactivate Account.

Step 4:- When you click on Deactivate Account, you will get a box pop up and in some cases, you might be asked to create/reset a Reddit password. 

This is basically a fail-safe. 

When you successfully reset the password, follow steps 1 – 4 to get back here and continue the process by following the steps below.

Step 5:- In the box that pops up, you will find info about deactivating your account. 

Info like options you could take instead of deleting your account. 

You will be briefed about what will happen to your posts, profile contents, and comments. 

You will even be given the opportunity to give feedback on why you want to delete your account on Reddit.

This is pretty much your chance to air your grievances before deleting your account. 

If you’re not comfortable sharing your grievances, just enter your Username and Password correctly in the spaces provided.

Step 7:- When you’ve entered your Username and Password and it’s correct, you’ll be shown an option you have to check.

The option reads “I understand that deactivated accounts are not recoverable”.

Clicking on this tells Reddit that you’re sure of the consequences of deleting your Reddit account. 

Step 8:- When you’ve clicked the above option, follow up by clicking on Deactivate. 

Because Reddit really does not want to let you go, another pop-up box will appear. 

This one will again try to tell you that the process is irreversible. You will be asked if you still want to delete your account. 

If you feel like you might still need your Reddit account, now’s the time to stop. You won’t be able to reverse the process if you take the step below.

If you’re still pissed off and you want to delete the account, go on and click on Deactivate. This will ensure the process takes place.

You’ll know it worked when you’re rerouted back to the official sign-in page of Reddit. 

How To Confirm If You Have Deleted Your Reddit Account

To be sure, navigate to the official sign-in page of Reddit and enter your Username and Password. 

If the site returns a “Wrong username and password” reply, then you’re sure that the account deletion took place.

It is very rare but if you didn’t do the steps above correctly and you tried confirming and your login details still worked, all you have to do is go back to the beginning of this tip and try again.

This time, try to ensure you don’t skip any of the steps.

Why You Might Want To Know How To Delete A Reddit Account

I am adding this at the end because I feel if you’re here, all you wanted was to learn how to delete a Reddit account and that’s what I tackled first.

This is additional info that you might be interested in knowing. 

1. Security Issues

These days, giant social media sites are being investigated because there are concerns that user data might have been sold to third party companies. 

Some of these third-party companies now use it for aggressive advertising purposes. Facebook and Twitter have faced a lot of this but Reddit isn’t in the clear either.

An example is the Default Tracking For Ads And Personalization feature that made users fear that their browsing sessions can be followed, cataloged, and sold to the highest bidder.

This feature can be disabled through but it wasn’t publicized so many Reddit users (Redditors) didn’t know it was there. Some still don’t know. 

There’s no way you can disable something you don’t know about and your data is being tracked.

2. Bullying And Abuse

Reddit prides itself as a witty site. A site of intellectuals, sort of. 

This means that many comments are usually sarcastic and meant to put people down, show knowledge, and disregard other people’s opinions.

Reddit has etiquettes that prohibit this but then we all know how social media users can be. 

Not many people follow the rules, they all just end up commenting in a way that could harm many users’ self-belief. 

If you’re not used to the rough and tumble nature, you might be really angry. Angry enough to want to find out how to delete a Reddit account.

Some Of The Tips You Could Consider Before You Delete Your Reddit Account

These options below are not as radical as deleting your account. The good part is that although the tips might not fix the issue it’ll make things a little better.

1. Fixing Security Concerns 

Take the security issues that users might have for instance. To fix this concern, I will advise users to get a really good VPN. 

This will help users keep their data and not be exploited by social media giants.

This tip helps across all social media sites so you can apply it too if you’re having privacy concerns about a site. 

Who knows? Maybe if you know that your data is safe, you might change your mind about deleting your Reddit account.

2. Fixing Bullying Concerns

Like I wrote before, there are rules Redditors must enforce and follow. There are rules that everybody plays by.

There might be slight differences/rules in the different subreddits but the major fails are listed below.

• Promoting Child P#o#rn
• Impersonification 
• Leaking confidential information
• Encouraging the breaking of a law
• Sharing private clips of people without their consent
• Taking part in cyberbullying and advocating for violence.

If the reason why you’re reading an article on How to delete a Reddit account is that you’re tired of seeing some of the above behaviors.

Then you should look into reporting those users instead of having to delete your account and miss out because of other people. 

Report subreddits or comments if they in any way do any of the distasteful actions I outlined above. 

Usually, if your report checks out, that account might face sanctions like terminating the account or just a temporary suspension. 

What You Will Lose (And What Will Stay) When You Delete Your Reddit Account 

I’ve covered how to delete a Reddit account, why you should delete the account, and why you shouldn’t.

I’m gonna explain the data you’ll never get back if you go through with the deletion process.

In some other social media sites, accounts can be temporarily closed. It will be like some sort of hibernation if you’re tired of using the site.

Then you can always bring it back from hibernation, the only problem is that Reddit isn’t like that. 

That’s why there were so many pop up boxes asking if you want to delete your account when I was explaining how to delete the account.

They wanted you to be absolutely sure because there’s no going back.

Username

Once you’ve confirmed you want to delete the account and you follow through, your Username can never be used again. Not even by you.

If you’re using something witty and you delete your account, you can never use it even if you’re trying to register for a new account. 

Comments

Your comments won’t be deleted when you delete your account. Where your name used to be on the comment will however become “Deleted”. 

You might want to actually delete all your comments though before you go ahead with the irreversible decision of deleting your Reddit account.

Requesting For Your Data

This is now a common feature. Most sites have options where you can automatically ask for your data and it will be given to you usually after a given time.

Reddit does not have this feature. You’ll have to directly email Reddit and ask for your data back. 

This should be done before you delete your Reddit account. 

Conclusion 

Deleting Reddit accounts is not really hard to do as the steps above show. Follow the process until you’re sure (by using the test I suggested above).

You might have several reasons why you want to delete your Reddit account, please go through the article and consider all options before choosing one that could have unfavorable consequences.

Have you ever had cause to delete your Reddit accounts? Please share your experience with us in the comment section.

You should be able to know how to delete a Reddit account by now. Thanks for reading.