The Internet brought on-the-go and on-demand streaming to the palms of users, and soon enough users were the ones generating part of the content. This user-generated content is one of the most popular forms of content consumed on the internet today, especially in the video format with the likes of TikTok and Instagram with short-form videos and YouTube with longer ones, among others garnering hundreds of millions to billions of eyeballs with millions of hours of videos being viewed each day.

Even though TikTok’s rise to fame has been quick, it still faces stiff competition from other platforms backed by huge names in the industry, among other new entrants into the market. If you’ve decided to move on to another streaming platform for your content needs, here is a simple guide to help you delete your TikTok account to reduce the social clutter from your busy virtual life. Also, if you wish to reactivate your TikTok account, check out the guide at the end of the article.

But before you delete your TikTok account, you should know that once your account is deleted:

You won’t be able to log into TikTok again.
You won’t have access to the videos you uploaded anymore.
You’ll also lose access to any purchases you’ve made on the platform, and no refunds will be processed.
Chat messages, and other shared information might still be available to others post deletion of the account.
Your TikTok account is first deactivated and hidden from public view for 30 days before it’s permanently deleted.

Also read: How to change your TikTok username or name?

How to delete a TikTok account permanently?

Tap on the Me option located at the extreme right of the toolbar at the bottom.
On your profile page, tap on the vertical three-dot menu icon at the top-right.
On the next page, tap on Manage my account under Account heading.
On the next page, scroll to the bottom and tap on Delete account.
Verify your login credentials — Gmail in our case (refer to the screenshot below) — and tap on the Verify and Continue button to continue.
On the next page, tap on the Delete Account button at the bottom.
A confirmation prompt will pop-up. Tap on Delete to confirm the removal of your TikTok account.

Once you’ve completed this process, your TikTok account will first be deactivated for 30 days, during which it’ll won’t be visible to the public. Once the 30-day period has lapsed, your TikTok account will be deleted permanently.

How to reactivate a TikTok account?

If you’ve deleted or deactivated your TikTok account by mistake or have changed your mind and wish to reactivate it, all you need to do is login back to the app using the same login method or credentials as before. When you log in, you’ll be greeted with a window similar to the screenshot below. Tap on the Reactivate button. Following this, you might need to login to your TikTok account again. The reactivation process can take some time.

Remember that you can only reactivate your TikTok account within 30 days of requesting account deletion; after that, all your account data will be lost, and you’ll have to start anew.

Also read: How to underline, italicise, bolden and strikethrough text in Whatsapp?