Permanently Deleting X Takes 5 Steps: Elon Musk Promoting Antisemitic Tweet Leads to Growing Boycott

Following a post this week by Elon Musk in which the owner of the site formerly known as Twitter expressed support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory, IBM, Apple and other companies said they were pulling their ads from the site.

The White House on Friday also rebuked the post. “We condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. Ads from IBM, Apple and other companies have reportedly appeared next to pro-Nazi content on the site, according to AP.

The boycotts comes as studies find that hate speech has grown on Musk’s social network since his takeover in 2022.

If you’ve decided you want to leave the site, in this guide we’ll explain what your options are, including whether you can change your mind about deleting your account. For more, here’s how to untag yourself from any X conversation.

How to delete your X account on your phone

Here’s how to delete your X account from your phone. Note that before you close your account, you may want to create an archive of your tweets. And if you’re interested, we also know how to download all your posts.

1. Sign in to your X account and tap your profile icon.

2. In the side menu, scroll down and tap Settings and Support, then select Settings and privacy.

3. Select Your account > Deactivate your account.

4. Tap Deactivate.

5. You’ll be prompted to enter your password and tap Deactivate to confirm.

If you change your mind, you can restore your account for up to 30 days after you deactivate it. However, deactivating your account is not deleting your account. If you want to delete your account, you simply need to not access your account within the 30-day deactivation period. After the 30 days, your account will be deleted and your username will no longer be associated with your account.

How to delete your X account on your computer

If you’re using X on your computer’s web browser, here’s how to delete your account. Again, before you close it down, think about creating an archive of your posts.

1. Sign in to your X account.

2. On the left menu, select More > Settings and privacy.

3. Under the Your Account section, click Deactivate your account.

4. Click Deactivate.

5. You’ll then be prompted to enter your password, and then you’ll confirm you want to proceed by clicking Deactivate account.

If you change your mind, see below for how to undo your account deactivation. If not, your account will be deleted after 30 days.

Unlink any third-party apps from your X account

While you may have clicked the button to deactivate your account, X notes that third-party apps can reactivate your account when you sign in to them. To prevent this from happening, you’ll need to revoke third-party app access to your X account, such as those that automatically delete old posts.

To get started, sign in to your X account and go to Settings and privacy > Security and account access > Apps and sessions > Connected apps. You’ll then select each app one at a time and click Revoke app permissions.

How to reactivate your X account

If you change your mind, you can always reactivate your account for up to 30 days. Here’s what to do.

1. Log in to your X account.

2. You’ll see a notice asking if you’d like to reactivate your account. If you select yes, you’ll be redirected to your X home timeline. Note that it could take a while for your posts and followers to be restored.

For more, here’s how to change the privacy settings on X, how to delete old posts and how to cancel your Netflix subscription.