How to Delete Pinterest Account and What Happens When You Do

Pinterest has developed neat tools allowing any user to hide or permanently delete your account quickly and easily.

Here are the actual steps to follow when deleting your Pinterest profile and what happens when you click “Close” button:

How to Delete Pinterest Account (Desktop)

• Login to your Pinterest account using any desktop browser (FireFox, Google Chrome, Safari)
• Click three dots in the top-right corner and select “Settings”
• Click “Account Settings” and scroll down to “Account changes” section where you can choose to either deactivate or close (i.e. permanently delete) your account. Please read below before choosing.

How to Delete Pinterest Account (Mobile)

• Open the Pinterest app on your mobile device
• Tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner
• Now tap “Settings” icon to the top-right
• Tap “Account settings”
• Scroll down to “Deactivate account” and “Close account” sections. Please read below before choosing one of the two options.

Pinterest Delete Account vs Deactivate Account (Pinterest)

	Pinterest Delete	Pinterest Deactivate
In other words	Close	Hide
Can be restored	No (After 2-week grace period)	Yes (By logging in)
What happens to your content (pins and boards)	Permanently disappear (But NOT repins!*)	Are hidden until you login to Pinterest
Can you register a new Pinterest account with the same email and username	Yes (After 14 days, provided your username hasn’t been snatched by someone else)	No

* If your pins were “repinned” by other Pinterest users, deleting your account or your original pin will NOT impact those repins in any way. This is important because, once your Pinterest content is shared by other users, you lose your ownership being unable to control what happens to that content then.

Once your account is deleted, those re-pins will no longer be attributed to you but they will remain untouched.

A few more notes:

• If you have switched to business account (to get access to Ads and/or Analytics) like I did, you’ll have to first switch back to personal account before being able to permanently delete it
• Once you delete your account, you’ll have two weeks / 14 days to change your mind. If you do change your mind within this grace period, simply login to your Pinterest account and you’ll be given a link to restore it
• Once 14 days are over, you will not be able to reinstate a closed account, its pins or boards

What Happens When You Delete Your Pinterest Account?

Can you register a new Pinterest account with the same username?

No, you will only be able to do that after 14 days of deletion request when your old account is gone forever (if no one else snatches it before you do)

Does your Pinterest profile URL return an error?

Yes

Can you restore your account?

Not after 14-day grace period is over

Does your pins and boards disappear from the site?

Yes

Do re-pins of your original pins disappear from the site?

No!

What’s the best way to ensure ALL pins and re-pins of yours are deleted?

File a DMCA complaint. Read more about removing your content from Pinterest here.

Takeaways: How to Delete Your Pinterest Account

• Whether you are using a desktop browser or a mobile app, you can either close (delete) or deactivate your account by going “Settings” -> “Account Settings”
• Closing account means permanently deleting it but you have 14 days to change your mind
• Deactivating your account means hiding your profile and pins until you login to Pinterest again (logging in activates account automatically)
• In both cases, your repins will remain on the site. They will no longer be attributed to you as the original poster but they will not be removed / hidden. So if you are concerned about your content on the site, deleting / deactivating your account may not be the ultimate solution. You may have to manually track down all the repins and request deletion.

Now that we know all the details and pitfalls of trying to delete your identity and owned content from Pinterest, there’s one important conclusion to drive at.

If something is published on social media, there may be no way back. Online publication curate social media and use embedded pins or screenshots to publicize what they have found.

Other Pinterest users re-pin your content to their boards. While you remain the copyright holder of your created content, its spread may get out of your control and deleting your Pinterest account may not solve it. Read more about removing your content from Pinterest here.