How to Delete Your Reddit Account Permanently

Reddit has had its fair share of controversy and security issues over the years. For instance, Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman abused his power to access and edit any part of the site and inserted code that would tamper with user's posts.

Furthermore, multiple Reddit screwups have come to light over the years, including at least one celebrity nude photo hack, numerous instances of rebellious content moderators, and the removal of an employee who claimed that they had been asked to provide a government authority with the data of Reddit's users.

Back in 2018, Reddit “discreetly” re-enabled the tracking of its users, and the data it collected was shared with third parties. Few Reddit users are aware of, or interested in, these sort of details but between taking a principled stance against questionable corporate practices and just simply deleting an account that you're not using and do not need, there are plenty of reasons why you may want to deactivate your Reddit account.

Things to Consider Before Deleting Your Reddit Account

1. Reddit does not allow for the temporary closure of its user's accounts. Once a user deletes their Reddit account, it is gone forever. Users should keep in mind, however, that this does not automatically erase any trace of said account's existence from the web. All of a deleted account's comments are still be visible, with the author of the comments displayed as [deleted], unless the owner of the account takes it upon themselves to first delete said comments.
2. No user is allowed to ever create an account with the same name as another user – whether we're talking about a present user or one whose account was already deleted.
3. Inconveniently, there is currently no automated feature to download all of a user's Reddit data easily.

How to Delete Your Reddit Account

1. Log in to your Reddit account.
2. Click on the user icon and choose “User Settings” from the drop-down menu that appears.
3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and choose “Deactivate Account”.
4. Type in your log in details once again. You will also be given the option to give some feedback as to why you are deleting your Reddit account.
5. Check the box to agree that you understand that deactivated accounts cannot be reinstated.
6. Select “Deactivate”.
7. Your Reddit account is now deleted.