Iโve been an avid fan of Pinterest since it first came into existence. I love the idea of creating my personal space online, where I can fill it up with pictures that interest me. At my peak, I was managing 4 boards that garnered a fair bit of traffic from various people. It came as a surprise to most of them when out of the blue, my boards suddenly disappeared. All those photos and pins lost without any warning.
In this article, I will be detailing what lead me to delete my Pinterest account and the 7 quick steps on how to delete Pinterest account.
Also, Read How To Increase Twitter Followers for Your Business.
What Led Me To Sign Up For Pinterest Account
Before
letting you know how to delete Pinterest account, I would like to share my
story, how I joined Pinterest.
Growing
up, I always had a knack for arts and crafts. In school, I was always the one
most excited when the teacher would take out the arts and crafts trolley
because it will mean hours of unsupervised creativity. I was often called in
front to showcase what I made that day. Our fridge at home was filled with my
artwork done in school, often inciting envy from my other siblings.
I carried
my love for creating art all through my high school, which got a new name –
scrapbooking. And while I made scrapbooks with friends and for some school
project, I didnโt consider my hobby as scrapbooking, more like tactile painting
using whatever materials I had available.
Then came
Pinterest. I remember a friend telling me, upon seeing one of my posters in the
school gym, to sign up to a site called Pinterest. She thought it would
interest me quite a bit, seeing as how I love that sort of stuff. She wasnโt
wrong.
The next three days after signing up was a blur. I remember being stuck in my room, only leaving for food or bathroom breaks. After that weekend, I created 3 boards of my interest: street style fashion, jewelry, and album covers.
What Led Me To Delete My Account In Pinterest?
My street
style and album cover board found a decent amount of popularity. I was gaining
10 to 20 followers in a day, and it continued to rise as the months and
eventually, years passed. The little fame I got out of Pinterest motivated me
to do better. I was spending hours and hours online scouring the net, looking
for the perfect photo to add to my collection.
I only
realized I was obsessing over Pinterest when a close friend sent a text message
asking if she did anything wrong and that she hasnโt heard from me in over 3
months. That was a rude awakening. I realized I was caught up in this virtual
world and forget about the real one.
My grades suffered as well as my relationship with my family and friends. I dreaded leaving the house, fearing that I might lose followers if I wasnโt staying active. And on the rare occasion that I did go out, I was on my phone, still on the app.
Decision of Quitting Pinterest
The
decision to delete my account wasn’t easy, but it had to be done for the sake
of my sanity. I didn’t realize it back then, but I was addicted to Pinterest,
and the validation of seeing my photos being pinned by other followers only
fueled my craving for attention.
I would be
lying if I said I didn’t miss it. Pinterest took up a good 2 years of my life,
and I did form some bond with a few users. But my decision to leave Pinterest
was ultimately a sound one. Now, I have more time to focus on other more
important things.
I do miss having a way to express my creativity, which Pinterest is perfect for. I miss having somewhere to get inspiration from when I’m stuck in a rut. But I eventually found my own outlet for creativity, somewhere a little removed from social media. The great thing this time is that I’m being paid to be creative, so I guess it worked out in the end.
Quitting Pinterest
If you
plan on taking a break from your Pinterest life as I did, there are many ways
to go about it. There is the option of deactivating your account for a little
while. This method means, should you choose to, you can go back to it anytime
you want, and all your boards and pins are still going to be intact. The other
way is to close your account permanently. That means all your saved photos,
pins, and boards that youโve created will be deleted. You will also lose the
followers you have on your account.
So, let us check the steps of how to delete Pinterest account temporarily and permanently.
Deactivating your account in 5 steps
If you choose to deactivate your account, your profile, as well as your boards, will be inaccessible by your followers. If, however, you change your mind and wish to go back to being active on the site, all you have to do is log in in order to reactive the account.
- Click on the three dots (…) at the very top of the Pinterest main page.
- Then go to Edit settings
- Select Account Settings on the left side of the screen
- Then click on Deactivate account just underneath Account changes
- You will be prompted to fill up a form as to why you chose to deactivate your account then click Deactivate my account.
You can
double-check to make sure that your account is truly disabled by going to your
Pinterest URL. Remember not to log back into your account to check if it is
still active – it will only reactive your account.
Deactivating
your account will not free your username and email address. Should you wish to
come back, all you have to do is log back in, and you will still get your
profile along with the boards youโve created before.
The above-mentioned step is for deactivating an account, now I will let you know how to delete Pinterest account permanently.
7 Steps: How To Delete Pinterest Account
Now let us
check how to delete Pinterest account permanently with quick 7 steps.
Opting to close your account will mean you are permanently going to leave Pinterest. What this will do is it will erase all your data and once itโs done, thereโs no going back. You will lose all your boards and pins forever.
- At the top of the Pinterest main page, click on the three dots (…)
- Go to Edit settings
- Then click on Account Settings on the left side of the screen
- Click on Delete account
- You will be asked to provide a reason why you would want to delete your account then click on Next
- Click Send email
- Check the email address you used for your Pinterest account to confirm that your account has been closed.
When you delete your Pinterest account, your profile will also be deactivated. It will take 12 days before your account to be closed permanently. During the 14 days that your account hasnโt been deleted, if you change your mind, you can log back in, and your account will be reactivated.
Final thoughts
I’m not
saying you should follow my lead in quitting Pinterest. It was and continues to
be an amazing website to express one’s creativity. My reason for quitting was a
personal one. And I’m sure others have a better way of managing their real life
and their Pinterest life.
As for
regrets, I have none. The first few months that followed after leaving were
quite hard; I had a void in my day usually taken up by being online that I now
had to fill. I got by and continue to do so. All in all, I’m healthier and
happier because of what I did.
I hope
this article has given you enough knowledge on how to delete Pinterest account.
It will give me a great boost if you share this article to reach to more users
who are willing to learn new things.