How to Delete Topics Without Losing Instagram

If you’ve started using Threads and found you need it , you’re in for a rude awakening: As it stands, you can’t delete your Threads account without also deleting your Instagram account (although Meta is apparently ” looking into it “) . . That’s how closely intertwined the new social network Meta is with Instagram. Of course, you get a simple setup, built-in followers, and a text feed that might not be as bad as Twitter . But it’s still Meta, with all the privacy-invading policies and existential conundrums that come with it.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t exit the app and you can’t delete all of your (public) data. If you’re done with Threads but don’t want to say goodbye to Instagram, here are a few things to try.

Manually remove all your content

If you don’t want your online content to be visible to everyone, you’ll have to go in and manually delete everything you’ve previously shared, post by post, from the option in the three-dot menu in the corner. At least that way it won’t be available publicly and won’t be linked anywhere. While you’re at it, delete all personal information in your bio and be sure to delete all of your followers by removing them from your followers list.

Make your profile private

If you don’t want to do all that manual work, but still want to get rid of public posts, the best option is to make your profile private. From there, you can remove all followers or keep the list of only your close friends.

To do this, press the Menu button on the profile, go to Privacy > Private Profile and press the OK button.

Deactivate your profile to say goodbye forever (for now)

If you really don’t want to appear in threads at all, you will have to deactivate your account. This will not delete your data – it will still be hiding on the Meta servers, ready to be indexed. But at least it won’t be available to everyone and your profile won’t show up in search results and you won’t be tagged in conversations. You can restore your account at any time by simply logging in again. Then, one day, when Threads adds the ability to actually delete your profile, you’ll be able to come back to deal the killing blow.

To deactivate, press the Menu button in the profile and select Account > Deactivate Profile > Deactivate Threading Profile .

If you too are ready to destroy your Instagram profile

If you just can’t deal with Meta anymore, you can get rid of your entire Instagram profile. The company will then be forced to remove all of your data from their servers, as well as remove it from public records.

In the Instagram app, go to Settings > Account Center > Privacy > Account Ownership and Management > Deactivate or Delete . Here, select the account you want to delete, click Remove Account , and then click Continue .

If you use Instagram on the web, use their Account Deletion page to get started.