Guide: How to Delete Yourself from the Internet

You can't delete yourself from the internet completely, but you can remove a lot of your data and make the rest much harder to find. Start by searching your own name, then close old accounts, opt out of data broker sites, ask Google to remove sensitive results and use your legal right to deletion. Keep checking afterwards, because new data keeps appearing.

What's out there about you online?

More than most people expect. Data brokers and people-search sites collect and sell detailed profiles about you, often including your address, phone number and activity. That makes you an easier target for scams, identity theft and unwanted exposure. Even old content can resurface and affect things like job applications.

If broker listings are your main worry, our guide to removing yourself from data broker sites covers the opt-out process in more detail.

Cleaning up your online presence limits who can access your information and reduces the risk of misuse.

Understand your digital footprint

Your digital footprint is everything tied to you online: social media posts, mentions by others, public records, purchases, and data collected by apps and websites. Over time it adds up to a detailed picture of your life.

Some of it is public. Other parts sit behind logins, like banking or healthcare. And there's a hidden layer where stolen or leaked data gets traded.

For practical ways to shrink it, read our guide on how to protect your digital footprint.

How to delete yourself from the internet, step by step

1. Map what's out there. Search your name, email and phone number. This shows you what others can see, and where to act.
2. Clean up your social media. Delete profiles you don't use. On the rest, lock down your privacy settings so only the right people see your information.
3. Cut back app access. Every app collects data. Remove the ones you don't use and limit permissions on the ones you keep.
4. Close old accounts. Forgotten accounts on websites and forums still store your data. Delete them.
5. Remove yourself from data broker sites. These sites collect and sell your personal information. Opt out where you can, or use a tool that sends the removal requests for you automatically.
6. Use your data rights. Laws like the GDPR give you the right to ask for your data to be deleted. Official tools, like Google's removal requests, control what shows up in search.
7. Protect yourself going forward. Use privacy tools like a VPN, and be pickier about where you share your data.
8. Make it ongoing. This isn't a one-time fix. Check regularly and remove new data as it appears.

You don't need to do everything at once. Each step makes your data harder to find, track and misuse.

How to delete yourself from social media

Social media is often the biggest source of exposed personal data. Before you start, know the difference between the two options most platforms give you.

Table: Deactivating vs deleting a social media account

Here's where to find each option. Menus change often, so if a path doesn't match what you see, search the platform's help center.

Facebook

• Deactivate or delete: click your profile picture, then Settings and privacy → Settings → Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion. Choose Delete account to remove it for good (permanent after about 30 days).
• Download your data: Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Export your information.
• Meta is moving people from Accounts Center to Meta Account, so you may see either name. Facebook's help page on permanently deleting your profile has the current steps.

X (formerly Twitter)

• Deactivate or delete: Settings and privacy → Your account → Deactivate your account (deleted after 30 days if you don't log in)
• Download your data: Settings and privacy → Your account → Download an archive of your data

Instagram

• Deactivate or delete: Settings → Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion. Choose Delete account to remove it for good (permanent after about 30 days).
• Download your data: Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Export your information.
• As on Facebook, you may see Meta Account instead of Accounts Center. Instagram's help page on deleting or deactivating your profile has the current steps.

TikTok

• Delete: Profile → Menu → Settings and privacy → Account → Deactivate or delete account (30-day grace period)
• Download your data: Settings and privacy → Account → Download your data

LinkedIn

• Hibernate: Settings & Privacy → Account preferences → Hibernate account
• Delete: Settings & Privacy → Account preferences → Close account
• Download your data: Settings & Privacy → Data privacy → Get a copy of your data

Snapchat

• Delete: Settings → Account Actions → Delete Account (30-day deactivation before permanent deletion)
• Download your data: available through My Data in settings or the account portal

Also read: How to protect yourself and your data from internet hackers

How to remove yourself from Google search results

A big part of reducing your exposure is controlling what shows up on Google. You can't always remove content from the internet, but you can often remove it from search results.

Use Google's removal tool

Search for "Google remove personal information" or go to Results about you in your Google account. You'll need to submit:

• Links (URLs) to the pages showing your data
• Screenshots of the information you want removed

Google typically accepts requests for sensitive data such as:

• Phone numbers, email or home address (especially in doxxing cases)
• Financial or medical information
• Non-consensual explicit content

Each request is reviewed by a person, so expect to wait anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for a decision.

Know what Google removal doesn't do

Removing something from Google doesn't delete it from the internet. It just makes it harder to find. To remove it fully, you also need to contact the website hosting the content.

Table: Where to send each kind of removal request

For a more detailed walkthrough, read our full guide on how to remove search results about you from Google.

Why delete your information from the internet?

Because the less information there is about you online, the less there is to exploit. In practice that means:

• Fewer scams and spam. If your contact details aren't easy to find, scammers have a harder time reaching you. Cleaning up data broker sites, old accounts and social media cuts unwanted calls, emails and texts.
• Lower risk of identity theft. The less that's out there, the harder it is for someone to take out loans, impersonate you or commit fraud in your name.
• More privacy day to day. Companies and criminals both track you online. Less data means less to monitor, profile or exploit.
• More control. Instead of your information being shared and sold without your knowledge, you decide where it's used, with fewer third parties handling it.

How to use your right to be forgotten

You have the right to ask companies to delete your personal data. In the EU this is the "right to be forgotten", set out in Article 17 of the GDPR.

You can ask a company to delete your information if it:

• No longer needs your data
• Collected it without a valid reason
• Relied on your consent, and you've withdrawn it

The EU's GDPR gives strong protection. In the US, rights are similar in some states (California, under the CCPA, for example), but they depend on where you live.

To make a request:

1. Find the company that has your data.
2. Contact it, usually through its privacy page.
3. Ask it to delete your data, and briefly explain why.
4. Save its response.

If your name shows up in Google results that are outdated or irrelevant, you can request removal through Google's GDPR tool.

Good to know: companies can sometimes say no if they have a legal reason to keep your data.

How Serus keeps your data off the internet

Removing a lot of your data is possible, but it's not a one-time task. New information gets collected, shared and resurfaced all the time.

Serus finds where your personal data shows up, removes it from high-risk sources like data broker sites, and keeps monitoring for new exposures. Instead of repeating the same process by hand, you get an automated, ongoing clean-up. Run a free scan to see where you stand.

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