Planning to Quit Social Media? Stop. Do This First. (4-step guide)

Ready to quit Twitter, Reddit, Facebook or other social media platforms? You’re not alone – most social media users have probably considered quitting at some point. Anxiety, depression, loneliness and FOMO all have well documented, strong ties to social media usage; if you’re feeling off – it might be time to unplug.

The next step is obvious to most people – hit ‘deactivate’ on your platforms. That would be a mistake – like closing your front door, but leaving all your windows open.

While your profile might disappear from public view, your old posts, comments, photos, and messages are often left on the company’s servers, and sometimes still accessible to others. This scattered digital footprint can be a goldmine for data brokers, a source of embarrassment if an old post resurfaces, or a privacy risk you never planned for.

So, if you want a truly clean break, you need to do a little cleanup first. Here’s a simple, four-step guide to make sure your past doesn’t linger to affect your future.

Step 1: Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts

Before deleting anything – you should audit what’s there first. Make note of all your accounts, then work through them one by one searching for old content. The easiest, safest option is to delete everything. But, if you want to keep some old posts or comments on the internet, have a read through our doxxing prevention guide, digital footprint guide, or our job-hunters social media cleanup guide. Depending on your situation, these should help you decide what to keep and what to cut.

Doing this process manually can take hours, days, or longer depending on how many accounts you have, and how old they are. Redact.dev lets you automate the process of mass deleting content from over 30 different social media platforms. You can easily scan, keyword search, and automatically delete any of your old content before you deactivate your account. With Redact, you can;

Mass-delete posts, comments, or images from specific platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or Discord.
Delete based on keywords (e.g., your old job title, a location, or an ex’s name) to find and remove specific, sensitive content.
Filter content by date range, wiping out everything from your high school or college years with a few clicks.

Redact is the most efficient way to scrub years of data that will otherwise take you hours to find and delete manually.

Step 2: Download Your Social Media Data Before Quitting

Most social media platforms offer an option to download a copy of your data before you leave. This can be useful for sentimentality or for keeping a personal record of your history on the platform. However, be aware that this is an archive for you, not a tool for the company to delete your data. It’s an optional step and doesn’t replace the need to clean your account.

Here are the major platforms that offer this functionality and a brief overview of what you can typically get:

Facebook: Provides a comprehensive “Download Your Information” tool. You can select specific categories of data to download, including posts, photos, videos, messages, comments, and even your “likes” and reactions. The data is usually available in formats like HTML (which you can browse like a website) or JSON.
Twitter (now X): X offers an archive including all your past tweets, direct messages, media you’ve shared, and information about your account. Here’s our guide on getting your Twitter data (and using it with Redact.dev)
Instagram: As part of the Meta family, Instagram has a similar “Download Your Information” page. You can download a file containing your photos, videos, stories, messages, and profile information.
TikTok: Allows users to “Request Data” which includes their profile information, watch and comment history, and other activity. It’s important to note that the data file may not contain the actual videos themselves, but rather a text file with links to them. You may need to download each video manually.
Reddit: Reddit users can request a data download which includes their posts, comments, and other account information. The data is often provided in a format that may require some technical knowledge to parse through.

Step 3: Revoke Third-Party App Permissions

Think about all the apps and websites you’ve logged into using your social media account. These third-party services often retain the data they collected from your profile. Before you deactivate your account, go into your settings and revoke access for any apps you don’t recognize or no longer use.

On most platforms, you can find this setting under something like “Settings and Privacy” and then “Apps and Websites” or “Security Settings.” This severs the connection and prevents those apps from holding on to your data.

Facebook / Instagram (Meta Accounts Center) – Revoke Third Party App Access

Because Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they’ve consolidated many of these settings into the “Accounts Center.”

Following this link and logging in should allow you to manage apps and websites connected to Meta. If it doesn’t work, try the steps below:

How to find it:
- On either platform, go to Settings and Privacy.
- Look for the “Accounts Center” option and tap on it.
- Navigate to “Your information and permissions” or a similar section.
- Find “Apps and websites” to see a list of all the third-party services you’ve given access to.
- Go through the “Active” apps and websites on the list, and revoke access to as many as possible. If in doubt, kick it out.

How to Revoke Third Party App Access on X / Twitter

Twitter has a straightforward process for managing connected apps. All you need to do is;

Go to account settings on X / Twitter.
Go to the Apps and sessions section – you should see connected apps and their permissions listed out.
To disconnect and app, click the Revoke access button next to the app. You can also click the apps to see more info and revoke access.

Reddit – Third Party App Authorizations

Reddit also keeps a clean list of authorized applications in its user preferences.

How to find it:
- On a desktop, go to your User Settings.
- Click on the “Apps” or “Third Party App Authorizations” tab (you may have to look under an “Advanced” or “Privacy” section on some versions).
You should see a list of all third-party apps you’ve given access to, with “revoke access” alongside them.
Work through the list and disconnect as many apps as possible.

How to Manage App Permissions on TikTok

TikTok’s settings for managing third-party apps are found within the security menu.

Go to your Profile.
Tap the three horizontal lines ☰ in the top right for the menu.
Go to Settings and privacy.
Navigate to Security and login or Security & permissions
- You may need to select “Manage app permissions” and remove access for as many apps as possible.
You should see a list of connected apps. Go through this list and tap them or the “Remove access” button to revoke their access to your TikTok account.

Full documentation from TikTok is available here.

Why This Step Is Critical

Revoking these permissions is a vital final step. While deleting your account will often sever these connections, doing it proactively ensures that a rogue or forgotten app doesn’t continue to hold on to your data.

Any of these connected apps could be holding onto some of your data; remove it to safeguard yourself in the event of a breach or attack against one of the connected apps, or even just misuse from the app developer. There is no benefit to keeping apps connected unless you’re actively using them.

Step 4: Deactivate or Delete Your Account

Once your account is a clean slate, with your posts and comments scrubbed, you can confidently hit the “deactivate” or “delete” button. This final step is now truly a definitive exit, not just a temporary disappearance.

By taking these proactive steps, you are protecting your digital privacy and ensuring that your past doesn’t linger to affect your future. Don’t rely on social media companies to clean up after you, take control and do it yourself.