How to Delete a Threads Account Without Losing Instagram

At launch, the only way out of Threads was to delete Instagram too. That changed in late 2023, and the rule most people still repeat is the old one.

Updated October 2026

How do you delete a Threads account, step by step?

In the Threads app on a phone:

1. Tap your profile icon at the bottom right.

2. Tap the menu icon at the top right, then Settings.

3. Tap Account, then Deactivate or delete profile.

4. Tap Delete profile and follow the confirmation screens.

Facebook's Help Center also describes a route through Accounts Center, which some app versions use instead: open your profile menu, go to Accounts Center, then Personal details, then Account ownership and control, then Deactivation or deletion, and choose the Threads profile.

Before you delete, decide whether you want a copy of your posts. Meta's Accounts Center has a Download your information tool, so check whether it offers your Threads data first, because once the 30 days pass there is nothing left to download.

Can you delete Threads without deleting Instagram?

Yes. As of October 2026, deleting a Threads profile leaves the Instagram account, its posts and its followers exactly as they were, and the Help Center says the same of Facebook.

It was not always so. Meta's supplemental privacy policy at launch, reported by TechCrunch on July 6, 2023, said a Threads profile could only be deleted by deleting the Instagram account. That changed from November 2023, when the separate delete option started appearing in Threads settings.

The link still runs one way, though. Deleting your Instagram account takes away the login your Threads profile depends on, so anyone who wants to keep Threads should keep Instagram. What the Threads app is explains how the two accounts are tied together today.

What is the difference between deactivating and deleting Threads?

Deactivating is a pause. Deleting is an exit with a 30-day grace period:

• Deactivate hides your profile, your posts and your interactions with other people's posts until you reactivate, which you do by logging back in. Nothing is removed, and your followers are still there when you return.
• Delete starts a 30-day countdown. During it you can cancel by logging back in. After it, your content, likes and followers are gone for good.

Which to choose

If you are taking a break, deactivate. Coming back is a login, and the profile returns with its audience. If you are sure you are done, delete, but leave the app alone for the full 30 days, because logging in during that window cancels the deletion. Deactivating Instagram has its own rules and limits, and they are separate from Threads.

How long does Threads take to delete?

Two clocks run, and they measure different things.

The first is the 30-day window. For 30 days after you request deletion, your profile is not visible and the request can be cancelled by logging back in. Once those 30 days pass, the deletion is final.

The second is the cleanup. The Help Center says the deletion process can take up to 90 days to complete, and that copies may remain in backup storage after that, which Meta uses to recover from disasters or errors. Nobody can see your profile during this period; it is the removal of stored data that takes time.

There is a third number worth knowing if you think you might return: after deleting, you must wait 90 days before creating a new Threads profile with the same Instagram account.

Does deleting Threads remove your posts?

From Threads, yes. Your posts, replies, reposts and likes are removed along with the profile once the deletion completes.

The exception is the fediverse. If you turned on fediverse sharing, your posts may have been copied to servers run by other organizations that use compatible software. The Help Center says Threads will ask those servers to delete your content, but that it cannot guarantee they will, and that it may remain publicly visible there. Is Threads a safe app covers that sharing setting and what it means for privacy.

Screenshots, quotes and replies that other people wrote about your posts are theirs, not yours, and they stay.

Can you come back after deleting Threads?

Within 30 days, yes, and easily: log back in to Threads and confirm, and the deletion is cancelled. Your profile, posts and followers return as they were.

After 30 days, the old profile cannot be recovered. You can make a new one, but only after waiting 90 days from the deletion if you use the same Instagram account, and the new profile starts empty: no posts, no followers, no history. People who followed you before will not be moved over.

That empty start is the main reason to deactivate rather than delete if there is any chance you will be back.

Can you make your Threads profile private instead?

Yes, and for many people that is what they really wanted. In Threads, open Settings, then Privacy, and turn on Private profile. Only followers you approve can see your posts, and your replies on public threads are shown only to them as well.

The Threads setting is independent of Instagram's. A private Instagram account can have a public Threads profile, so check it in Threads directly.

Other lighter options exist too: limiting who can reply, hiding words, or muting the accounts that made you want to leave. If the problem was a feed full of things you do not care about, how the Threads algorithm works explains how to reset what it shows you. And if you are staying but starting over, buying Threads followers adds to the public count on a new profile; it does not change how Threads ranks your posts. Every Threads guide and service is listed on the Threads page.

Questions people ask about deleting Threads