Discord created their text and voice chat servers as a way to bring people who love playing games together. Their goal was to improve on the functions offered by other chat services. They also allow gamers to communicate with the same group even when they’re not playing the same game, or gaming at all. Over time, Discord servers grew to include far more than just collaborative gameplay. They now serve as message boards for various communities of gamers and non-gamers alike.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- How to Permanently Delete Your Discord Account
- How to Permanently Delete a Discord Account for Someone Who Has Died
- Discord Account Deletion: Frequently Asked Questions
If you're in a Discord channel, you know how nice it can be to connect easily to friends that have a lot in common with you. On the flip side, spending a lot of time on Discord might be distracting you from other important elements of your life.
If you're considering deleting your Discord account, we’ve got the steps you need to do so. We also have some information that could help you if you're trying to delete a Discord account for a loved one who has died. Deleting their account can help to create a positive digital legacy for your friend or family member.
Tip: To avoid any future messes or security concerns, save your account passwords in a password manager. We recommend Dashlane, LastPass, or RoboForm. You can read about the rest of our picks in our article on the best free or low-cost password managers.
How to Permanently Delete Your Discord Account
Your Discord account isn’t actually that hard to get rid of. The hardest part is not being able to respond to all the messages on your servers! Here is the path to follow once you're ready to delete Discord.
- If you're a server owner, delete or transfer servers.
- Go to "User Settings."
- Click "My Account" and "Edit"
- Click "Delete Account."
Tip: Ensure that your digital accounts are taken care of according to your wishes by making a will. You can easily create one from home with an online will maker like Trust & Will.
If you’re a server owner, delete or transfer servers
For those who started a particular group or server on Discord, there’s an extra step before deleting your account. Your Discord friends would probably be sad if you deleted active servers.
So, before deleting your account, decide whether any servers you own should be transferred to another owner instead of deleted.
Deleting them is fine if they haven’t been active in a long time and you know no one will be upset to see them go. As the owner of a server, though, you owe it to active server groups not to delete them without warning.
Go to “User Settings”
Once you're sure your servers have transferred ownership or can be deleted, click on your “User Settings.” You can do this in a browser or on your desktop application.
Click “My Account” and “Edit”
Inside your settings, you’ll see the “My Account” option. Within this menu, select “Edit” to get to the deletion process. Scroll down if you don't see it at first.
Click “Delete Account”
When you see “Delete Account,” you’ve found the right spot. Click the button and follow any prompts that come up, filling in your account information as you're asked.
Once you confirm, your account will be slated for deletion and will not be accessible or able to be recovered. This doesn't mean all the data is instantly gone, but Discord will go through and make the deletion soon.
How to Permanently Delete a Discord Account for Someone Who Has Died
If you need to delete a Discord account for someone who has died, you can start by using a username and password if you have them. Most of the time, though, you’ll probably need to contact Discord directly to delete someone else’s account.
Deleting someone's accounts is an important part of the post-loss checklist. This is a way to protect their digital legacy, making sure their account is closed securely.
Tip: You can continue a loved one's digital legacy with a virtual memorial on a platform like GatheringUs. They even have specialists who can guide and support you through the planning process.
Go to Discord support or Twitter to start a conversation
Discord recommends that you submit a ticket when you have a question that their Help Center doesn’t cover. You can visit this link to send a help and support ticket. It lets you send a specific request to the support team. Here, you can include the account name and the servers for the account you’d like to have deleted.
If you want a quick answer, such as checking in on an existing ticket, you can reach Discord on Twitter quite quickly @discordapp.
Explain the situation and provide key information
If your loved one was a server owner, you may need to request a specific plan of action in addition to just deleting the person’s account. If you have any contact information for other people on the server, you can ask who would want to take ownership. Another option is to suggest that Discord contact the server and see who might want to take over.
In any case, it’s helpful to back up your story with an obituary or copy of the death certificate. The Discord support team should contact you promptly to resolve the issue and let you know their course of action regarding any servers and memberships that your loved one had.
Discord Account Deletion: Frequently Asked Questions
Getting rid of Discord may bring up other ideas or questions about the service. Here are some that we thought might be useful follow-ups.
How long does it take for Discord to delete your account?
Discord doesn’t disclose just how long it takes to delete your account, and it likely varies.
If you want to talk to Discord support about making sure that the account has been deleted, you can send them a ticket through their support page.
What happens when you delete your Discord account?
When you delete your account, Discord anonymizes messages from you by renaming them with “Deleted User.” The messages you’ve sent remain, preserving the flow of both group conversations and direct private messages.
How do you delete a Discord server?
A server owner just chooses “Server Settings” and “Delete Server” to delete it. Users who don’t own the server cannot delete it.
Ditching Discord Once and For All
Discord may create a great community and connections for a while. Even so, it's only natural that we bid farewell to certain kinds of online communities over time. Getting rid of Discord can, if you like, be part of a larger effort to make your online footprint smaller and possibly even delete your online presence.
Some people make this choice to just cut down on their time on the internet. Others are thinking of the future when their family members might have to figure out their accounts and delete them after their death. This can be part of a proactive end-of-life plan where you put your important passwords together in a password manager. This will save family members lots of time. Consider the tools on Cake to start your plan for the future.
Sources
- “How do I permanently delete my account?” Discord Support. Discord. support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/212500837-How-do-I-permanently-delete-my-account-
- “How do I delete a server?” Discord Support. Discord. support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/213595197-How-do-I-delete-a-server-
- “Submit a Request.” Discord Support. Discord. support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000029212