What happens to messages when you delete Instagram account

Many users nowadays deactivate Instagram accounts to get away from social media but are unaware of how a deactivated profile will look to their followers or other Instagram users. So here’s what a deactivated profile will look like.

Quick Answer

A deactivated Instagram account means that all contents on your profile won’t be visible to anyone nor searchable online. This can be temporarily or as long as you plan to keep the account deactivated. However, you can easily get your account back by logging in and activating your profile.

Deactivating your Instagram account is a temporary and not a permanent action. It means you have the flexibility to get back access to your account, which is why people prefer to deactivate rather than delete the Instagram account.

If you’re wondering what exactly happens once you deactivate your Instagram account and how other people will view it, this article will explain everything about deactivating your Instagram account.

Table of Contents

  1. How Does a Deactivated Instagram Profile Look Like?
  2. How To Deactivate Your Instagram Account
    • What Happens to Your DMs if You Deactivate Your Instagram Account?
  3. How To Know if Someone Has Deactivated Their Profile?
  4. What Happens if You Delete Your Instagram Account?
  5. Endnote

How Does a Deactivated Instagram Profile Look Like?

Deactivating your account is an excellent way to “delete” your profile. Actually, you don’t delete it but more like turn it off. A deactivated Instagram will have the features mentioned below:

  • Your profile will be hidden from others.
  • Your posts, videos, comments, and likes will remain invisible.
  • People will not be able to search your profile.
  • Your followers will stay, but nobody can search your profile to unfollow the account.
  • Some things, such as your messages or comments, will remain visible.

You can reactivate your account at any time by simply logging back into your account. Instagram will fully restore your profile and information.

How To Deactivate Your Instagram Account

You can easily deactivate your Instagram account following these steps.

  1. Log in to your Instagram account on the web browser.
  2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner and open your profile.
  3. Click on Edit Profile.
  4. Scroll down and click the Temporarily Deactivate My Account option at the bottom.
  5. Answer the question “Why are you deactivating your account?” by selecting the reason from a dropdown menu.
  6. Renter your password.
  7. Click Temporarily Deactivate Account.

To retrieve your Instagram, you need to log in with your credentials, and you will get access to your Instagram account with all your backed-up data.

You Have To Use Browser

Your Instagram account can only be deactivated from the web browser on your mobile or laptop/PC, not the Instagram application. You need to log in to your account from a browser and temporarily disable the account, and rewrite your password.

What Happens to Your DMs if You Deactivate Your Instagram Account?

Nothing really happens to your direct messages as all the data is stored when you temporarily disable your account.

Old messages will still be visible, but new messages can’t be sent or received. If someone sends a message to a deactivated profile, the message will be sent but not delivered.

How To Know if Someone Has Deactivated Their Profile?

If you cannot search for a profile on your account, you may wonder if you’ve been blocked or whether that person has deactivated their profile.

Here are a few ways to check if someone has deactivated their Instagram account.

  1. You can ask a friend or someone else to search for the profile through their account. Whether they are friends or not, they will still be able to search for their profiles. If the profile is not visible on a different account, then the user has deactivated their account.
  2. You can create another Instagram account with a different Email address. In this way, you can check yourself and search for a profile. If the user is visible from another account, then the user might have blocked you.
  3. Lastly, you can search for the profile on a browser if you know the exact username. If the account is deactivated, the browser will show an error message saying, “Sorry, this page isn’t available.”

What Happens if You Delete Your Instagram Account?

Deleting your Instagram account is a permanent action. Once done, you can’t have your account back. After deleting your account, you must create an entirely new account if you wish to use Instagram again.

  • Your profile, photos, videos, comments, and likes will be removed permanently.
  • Deleted accounts cannot be reactivated.
  • You can’t sign up again with the same username.
  • Your old direct messages to others will still be visible, but instead of displaying your name, it will just say Instagrammer.

Endnote

Deactivating your account is just like deleting your account but temporarily. It can be retrieved, unlike the deleting your account option, which is a permanent action.

When you deactivate your account, your profile, pictures, videos, comments, and likes will be invisible to all Instagram users.

Will my messages be deleted if I deactivate Instagram?

You will not be able to access your Instagram direct messages while your account is deactivated, but as soon as you log back into your Instagram, all of your messages will be restored.

Does deleting Instagram messages delete from both sides?

Once you delete a conversation, it will no longer be visible in your inbox. Keep in mind that this only deletes the conversation for you, and that it will still appear for other people included in the conversation.

What happens when you permanently delete your Instagram account?

When you delete your account, your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers will be permanently removed. You can also choose to take a break and temporarily deactivate your account instead.