How Long Does It Take to Delete a Discord Account? Here’s What You Need to Know

The Discord account deletion process is not as straightforward as the company suggests or as you may have read elsewhere. Tiny details scattered throughout the platform’s data retention and privacy policies suggest various timeframes for different types of user information.

I’ve reviewed the policies and terms of service to help you understand how long it takes to delete Discord accounts. I’ll also show you how to delete your Discord account and other things you must do to avoid leaving traces of digital footprints behind.

So How Long Does It Take to Delete a Discord Account?

Discord says it deletes accounts 14 days after it receives user requests for deletion. On the other hand, accounts disabled by the chat service due to inactivity or terms of service violations will be deleted 30 days after the block, unless there’s an active ticket.

From reading Discord’s Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and data retention statements, I discovered the type of data the company keeps after your account has been deleted (not on hold or disabled) and how long it keeps it:

While Discord’s official stance is that you have the right to erase, control, rectify, limit the processing of, and prohibit the transfer of your data, how and when it does all that may not be up to you. In some cases, the company leaves some erasures to you. So, let’s guide you on what needs to be done.

What You Should Do Before Deleting Your Discord Account

As you’ve realized, a deleted Discord account does not guarantee the removal of certain sensitive content. If you have messages and other published materials that you want gone, you need to delete them manually. Here’s what you should do:

1. Manually delete messages. To delete a message, click the three dots beside the entry in the DM or server and select Delete. Unfortunately, you cannot select and delete multiple messages on Discord. So, that makes the process a bit tedious.

2. Delete servers you control to remove their messages. When you delete a server, you erase content posted by every member. If you transfer ownership instead, make sure you manually delete your posts.

3. Get your message history from Discord. It’s almost possible to track down messages in servers, channels, and direct messages that you long deleted or are no longer a part of. Follow these steps to request your message history so you can know where to look and delete your content:

a. Open Discord and go to Settings. On the web and desktop apps, click the User Settings icon next to your username. On the mobile app, tap the You icon twice or select the Settings gear at the top of the screen.

b.  Select Data & Privacy once the Settings page opens.

c. Click the Request Data button on the desktop and web apps. For the mobile app, select Request all of my data.

d. Accept the confirmation prompts.

e. The data will be sent to the email address currently tied to your Discord account.

f. Contact Discord at privacy@discord.com for inquiries about how to purge your data.

g. Cancel your Discord subscriptions for things like Nitros to avoid receiving debits that run during the waiting period. Also, delete your payment information, such as debit or credit card details.

How to Delete Discord Accounts on Desktop and Mobile

Uninstalling Discord from your computer, smartphone, or tablet is not the same as deleting your account. You must go through the account deletion process to remove your information from Discord’s system. I’ll show you the steps to take on different applications.

How to delete your Discord account on the desktop app

Discord’s web and desktop interfaces are identical, so the following process will work for both platforms:

• Click the User Settings icon beside your username once you open Discord.

• Scroll to the bottom of the main Settings page and click the Delete Account button.

• If you have a server, a pop-up will prompt you to either delete the server or transfer ownership before proceeding. The steps below will show you what to do. Skip to Step 4 if you don’t have a server.

Follow these steps to delete a server:

• Click your server tab in the left pane and select the arrow next to the server’s name.

• Select Server Settings.

• Now, scroll to the bottom of the left pane of the Settings window and click Delete Server.

• Enter your server’s name and click the Delete Server button.

Follow these steps to transfer ownership of the server:

• Go to the Settings page again, but this time, click Members in the left pane.
• On the right side of the window, right-click the member you want to hand over ownership to, and select Transfer Ownership.

• Acknowledge the transfer of ownership and select Transfer Ownership.

• Now, enter your password and click the Delete Account button.

• You will be automatically logged out once you hit the Delete Account button.

How to delete your Discord account on the mobile app

The following process works for Discord apps on Android and iOS devices:

• Open Discord and tap the You icon in the bottom-right corner.
• Tap the cogwheel (Settings) icon in the top-right corner or tap the You icon again.
• Select Account once you get to the Settings page.

• Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Delete Account.
• Enter your password and tap Okay.

If you have a server, you’ll receive the pop-up prompting you to delete or transfer ownership. Follow these steps:

How to delete a Discord server on Android and iOS:

• Go to the server and click the server’s name at the top of the screen.
  Click Settings and select Overview.

• Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Delete Server.
• Select Yes when the Delete Server confirmation prompt appears.

How to transfer server ownership on iOS and Android:

• Go to the server’s settings page, scroll to User Management , and select Members.
• Tap your preferred member and hit the Transfer Ownership option.
• Accept the transfer terms and tap the Transfer button.

What Happens After You Delete a Discord Account?

Firstly, Discord will send you an email that says the following after you hit the Delete Account button:

As the message mentioned, your account will be deactivated during the 14-day waiting period. That means you cannot log into the account unless you restore it. Whenever you attempt to log in (after entering your login credentials), Discord displays a message telling you the account is scheduled for deletion, with an option to restore it.

What can users see on your profile during the waiting period?

When you click the Delete Account button and Discord logs you out, you immediately appear offline to your friends, and your profile status message is removed.

However, your friends and other users will still see the following:

• When you joined Discord
• Your profile picture
• Your messages in DMs, servers, and channels, if you did not delete them before submitting your delete request

What happens after the waiting period, and how can I confirm that my account has been deleted?After the 14-day waiting period, you can try logging into your account again. You should see a reply that the account or email address does not exist. You should also appear in your friends’ DMs as Deleted User xxx , where xxx represents a unique ID Discord uses to keep track of deleted profiles.  If you failed to delete your posts and messages, they’ll continue to appear under the Deleted User placeholder. Other users, such as people you shared direct messages and servers with, will also see you as Deleted User .

Image credit: Discord Support

Can I Recover My Deleted Discord Account?

No. A deleted Discord account is not recoverable. You can only restore your account within 14 days after submitting the request. If Discord disabled your account because you broke its Terms of Service and other guidelines or your account has been inactive for too long, you can contact its Trust & Safety team to submit an appeal for the account.

Final Thoughts: Should You Delete Your Discord Account or Not?

With the rise of cyberattacks and online privacy issues, it’s understandable why you want to erase some of your data. However, deleting your Discord account is not something you should do on a whim. If it’s a spur-of-the-moment decision, take some time to reevaluate your reasons.

If you’re wary about people getting access to sensitive data, you should learn how to protect yourself online, as the threat goes beyond Discord. If you really want to say goodbye to Discord and completely erase every data trail, follow the suggestions I outlined above.

Remember to take inventory of the places you visited and request your data if you must. While requesting your data may take longer, it’s worth waiting to ensure you leave nothing behind. Let us know how your account deletion process went, and feel free to ask any questions!

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