How to delete your Pinterest account permanently

Steps last checked 15 August 2026

Your pins were mostly other people's images. Deleting your account removes your boards, but the original pins stay on Pinterest under whoever posted them. What you lose is your curation — years of organising — not the images themselves.

Save your boards first

Pinterest's export is thin compared with other platforms: it gives you your data, not a browsable copy of your boards. If a board represents real work — a wedding, a renovation, a research collection — screenshot it or copy the source links out before deleting. There is no way to reconstruct it afterwards.

Request the export from Settings → Privacy and data → Request your data.

You only get 7 days, and logging in cancels it. Pinterest permanently deletes your account and personal data 7 days after you request it — one of the shortest windows anywhere. And during those 7 days, simply logging in reactivates the account. If you want to check whether it worked, visit pinterest.com/yourusername in a logged-out browser rather than signing in.

Delete your Pinterest account on desktop

1. Log in, click the options icon, then Settings.
2. Choose Account management in the left sidebar.
3. Select Delete account and follow the prompts.
4. Check your email and confirm — the deletion does not complete until you do.

Delete Pinterest in the app

1. Tap your profile picture — top left on a personal account, bottom right on a business one.
2. On a business account, tap the ⋯ icon.
3. Tap Account management.
4. Scroll down and tap Delete your data and account.
5. Complete the prompts, then confirm via email.

The email confirmation catches people out. If you never open it, the account is not deleted.

Running a business account? Settle any outstanding balance first — Pinterest charges unpaid bills to your payment method on file.

Deactivate instead

Deactivation hides your profile, boards and pins from everyone else while keeping them intact. Your email address and username stay tied to the account, and you can reverse it by logging back in. It is on the same settings screen and is the better choice if you are unsure.

Pinterest notes that users in California must contact Pinterest before reactivating.

What happens to your pins

• Your boards and pins: removed from public view.
• Pins other people saved from you: stay on their boards.
• Images you uploaded yourself: removed, but anything already re-pinned by others persists.
• Comments you left: removed with the account.