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Journalism of Courage
Instagram may have started as a social media platform for photos, but in the last few years, the content on the platform has changed rapidly, with several studies indicating that it is negatively affecting the mental health of both children and adults alike.
Last year, a survey by a US-based firm TRG Datacentres revealed that Instagram was the social media platform users were most eager to delete, with more than one million people worldwide searching for the same. If you want to take a break from Instagram or just get off the platform, here’s how you can deactivate or delete your account in a few steps.
The process for deactivating and deleting an Instagram account is the same since both options are located on the same page. Keep in mind that deactivating is not the same as deleting your account. Deactivating it means you can later restore your account with all your existing posts and stories, but deleting your Instagram account is irreversible and you will have to make a new one from scratch.
1. Launch Instagram on your phone and tap on your profile photo at the bottom right of the window.
2. On your profile page, tap the three-line menu on the top right and proceed to click on ‘Settings and privacy’.
3. Now, head over to the ‘Accounts Center’ section on the window that appears, tap on ‘Personal details’ under ‘Account settings’.
4. Choose ‘Account ownership and control’, tap on ‘Deactivation or deletion’ and choose the account you want to get rid of.
5. Instagram will now ask you to enter your account password, following which your account will be deactivated or deleted, depending on what you want to do.
Another thing to note is that Meta takes up to 30 days before your account is permanently deleted. During this time, your Instagram profile won’t be visible to others but you can cancel the deletion process at any time. In some cases, it might take up to 90 days before all your information is deleted.
