How to Deactivate TikTok or Permanently Delete Your Account

Maybe you want a break from TikTok during exams, maybe a side project in Winnipeg has run its course, or maybe you are closing the account a former employee set up for your shop. TikTok gives you two ways out: deactivate the account for a while, or delete it for good. This guide walks through both, based on TikTok's Help Centre as we read it on 27 October 2026, and lists what to save before you go.

Deactivate or delete: the short answer

Deactivate if you might come back. Delete only if you are sure you won't. Here is how TikTok's Help Centre describes each option:

Both options start from the same menu in the app, so read the screen you land on before you tap anything.

How to deactivate TikTok

These are the steps from TikTok's Help Centre article "Deactivate your account":

1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu button (three lines) at the top.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Account, then Deactivate or delete account.
5. Tap Deactivate account and follow the instructions.

What happens while your account is deactivated

• You can't use the account, but TikTok keeps your data so you can recover it.
• Your profile and videos are hidden. The Help Centre says no one will see your content or profile.
• Some traces stay. Direct messages you sent before may remain visible to the people who received them, and Duets or Stitches that other people made with your videos may still be visible.

So deactivating hides your account, not every message or remix that already sits in other people's accounts.

How to reactivate a deactivated TikTok account

Coming back is simple. According to the Help Centre, you log in with the same login details you used before and tap Reactivate to recover your account. If you can no longer log in, sort that out first: TikTok's Help Centre has separate articles on login problems and on hacked accounts, and you can submit a report from the app for other account help.

How to delete your TikTok account permanently

The route is almost the same. From TikTok's Help Centre article "Delete your account":

1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Account, then Deactivate or delete account, and follow the instructions to delete your account.

The Help Centre points to TikTok's Privacy Policy for how your data is handled when you delete, and the Privacy Policy itself says you can delete your entire account in Settings.

Is there a waiting period before deletion is final?

Many older guides quote a fixed number of days during which a deleted account can still be restored. TikTok's current Help Centre article does not state a number. Instead, the app explains the process on the screens you see before you confirm. Read them carefully, screenshot them for your records, and don't rely on a figure from a third-party article, ours included.

Before you delete: a checklist

Deactivating can be undone. Deleting is meant to be final, so spend ten minutes on this list first.

1. Download your data

TikTok lets you request a copy of your data, which can include your username, watch history, comment history and privacy settings. In the app, go to Profile, the Menu button, Settings and privacy, Account, then Download your data. Choose what to include and a file format, then tap Request data. The Help Centre says the file can take a few days to prepare, you get an in-app notice when it is ready, and the file stays available for up to 4 days. The last 24 to 48 hours of some data may be missing, and some data, such as data that affects other people's privacy, is not included. Request the file, wait for it, download it, and only then delete.

2. Keep copies of the videos you care about

The Help Centre does not promise that your own videos are part of the data file, so keep your original clips from your phone's camera roll or editing app. For a business, that archive is useful for Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts later.

3. Use or withdraw Coins and Diamonds

The global version of TikTok's Virtual Items Policy says Coins, Gifts and Diamonds are cancelled when an account is cancelled or terminated, and that unused Coins, Gifts and Diamonds are not refunded. Coins can't be exchanged for cash. If you are a creator with Diamonds from LIVE gifts, check what you can withdraw before you delete. Our guide to what a TikTok Galaxy gift is worth explains how Coins and Diamonds work.

4. Update the places that point to your TikTok

Remove the TikTok link from your Instagram bio, website, email signature, Google Business Profile and printed menus or flyers. Our Instagram bio guide for Canadian businesses helps if you are moving people to another platform.

5. Check ads and shop tools separately

If you ran ads or sold through TikTok Shop, those tools have their own settings and records. Look at them before you close the account linked to them.

6. Removing the app is not deleting the account

Uninstalling TikTok from your phone only removes the app. Your account, profile and videos stay where they are until you deactivate or delete them in settings.

Alternatives if you only want a break

Not every reason for leaving needs deactivation. TikTok has settings that may solve the actual problem:

• Make the account private. Go to Settings and privacy, then Privacy, and turn on Private account. You then approve who can follow you, watch your videos and LIVE videos, and see your likes and follower lists. The Help Centre notes that your name, username and profile photo are always visible, and people can still search for your account.
• Set a daily screen time limit. Under Settings and privacy, Time and well-being, then Screen time, you can set a daily limit and get a notice when you reach it. For users aged 13 to 17, the Help Centre says this is on by default at 1 hour.
• Turn on sleep reminders. In the same menu, sleep hours mute push notifications after your sleep time begins.

One caution about simply walking away: TikTok's Inactive Account Policy says that if an account is not used to access TikTok for at least 180 days, its username may be reset to a random numeric username. If your handle matches your business name, log in now and then, or deactivate on purpose rather than leaving it idle.

Closing a creator or business account in Canada

For a café in Halifax or a renovation company in Kelowna, the account is part of how customers find you, so plan the exit:

• Tell your audience first. Post a short video or pinned comment saying where to find you next. If you serve Quebec, say it in French and English; our guide to bilingual posting for Quebec customers covers how.
• Collect the logins. If a former employee or agency set the account up, make sure you control the login email or phone number. Both options are reached from inside the logged-in app.
• Look at your numbers before you leave. The figures in TikTok analytics go with the account. Our guide to reading TikTok analytics shows which ones are worth writing down.
• Know your privacy rights. Canada's federal private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, includes individual access to your personal information among its principles, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada handles complaints about organizations. TikTok's Privacy Policy lists how to contact the company about your data.

Starting over instead of leaving?

Some people delete an old personal account and open a clean one for their business. If that is your plan, the new profile will start at zero. Some accounts add TikTok followers or TikTok views so the first videos don't look empty, and you can try our free TikTok views tool first. These only change how the numbers look; they don't replace good videos, and they don't bring customers or sales by themselves. We only need your public username or video link, never your password; the profile must be public, you pay by card through a secure checkout in USD, and delivery timing varies by package. The TikTok hub lists our other TikTok pages and free tools.