How to Delete Threads: One Post, All Posts, or Your Account

"Delete Threads" can mean three different jobs. You can delete one post, you can clear every post you've made and keep the profile, or you can remove the whole Threads profile. The first and the last are built in to Threads. The middle one isn't, so I use Redact for it.

Delete a single Threads post

1. Go to your profile.
2. Find the post under the Threads tab and click the three dots on it.
3. Click Delete, the last item in the menu.
4. Threads asks Delete post? and warns that you won't be able to restore it. Click Delete again.

The post goes at once. If it's the first in a chain of your own posts, the box says all connected posts will also be hidden.

A reply has the same three dots, the same Delete and the same warning. Replies you've left on other people's posts are listed under the Replies tab on your profile. Deleting a post doesn't remove what other people wrote under it, and Threads says their replies stay up.

A repost isn't your post, so there's nothing to delete. Open the Reposts tab, click the repost button under the post and choose Remove. There's no confirm, and it leaves the tab straight away. The original stays on its author's profile.

If you only want a post out of sight, the same three-dot menu has Archive. The post leaves your profile at once and moves to Archive in the left menu, where you can Unarchive it or delete it later.

Why Threads has no delete-all button

Threads deletes one post per trip through that menu. Your profile has no select-all, no date filter and no "clear my history" setting, and neither does Accounts Center. The only bulk option Meta gives you is the biggest one, removing the profile itself, which also takes your handle, your followers and your likes with it.

That's fine for ten posts. For a few years of posting it's hours of tapping, which is where Redact comes in.

Delete all your Threads posts at once with Redact

Redact is a desktop and phone app that lets you mass delete your Threads posts in one run. It signs in to Threads on your own device and removes what matches your settings, so your login never passes through us.

1. 1

   Download Redact and connect Threads

   Download Redact, then pick Threads from the list of services and log in to connect your account.

   

2. 2

   Choose what to delete

   Select Threads for your own posts. Replies, Quotes, Reposts and Likes have their own tiles, so you can clear one kind and leave the rest.

   

3. 3

   Set a time range

   Leave the dates open to queue everything, or pick a range to retire one stretch of your history and keep the recent posts.

   

4. 4

   Narrow it down, if you want to

   On the advanced form you can delete only posts with an image, only posts that contain certain keywords, or only posts at or under a number of likes, which leaves your popular posts alone.

   

   The preserve options do the reverse. Posts with an image, or posts that contain keywords you list, are never deleted.

   

5. 5

   Preview, then delete

   Run Preview Mode first to see exactly what's queued. When the list looks right, pick Deletion Mode and start the run. Review & Delete lets you tick posts by hand instead.

   

Clean up your profile before you delete it

A bulk delete and a profile delete aren't the same thing. Clearing your posts with Redact keeps the profile, the handle and your followers, so it's the one to pick if you want a fresh start under the same name.

It's also worth doing if you're leaving for good. Deactivating only hides your posts, and a deleted profile takes 30 days to go. If you'd turned on fediverse sharing, Meta says it asks other servers to remove your posts and can't promise they will. Deleting the posts first means less is sitting around in the meantime. Clear your Threads likes and your replies in the same sitting.

Deactivate or delete your Threads profile

Both live on one screen in Accounts Center.

1. On threads.com, click the menu icon beside the Threads logo and choose Settings.
2. Click Accounts Center.
3. Click Manage accounts, then Manage beside your Threads account.
4. Click Deactivation or deletion.
5. Choose Deactivate account or Delete account, then click Continue.
6. Threads lists what goes with the account, like your followers, posts and photos. Click Continue.
7. To delete, pick a reason from the list and click Continue.
8. The Permanently delete account screen offers Export info, which saves a copy of your posts first, and Deactivate account if you've changed your mind. Click Continue to go ahead.
9. If you sign in to Threads with your Facebook or Instagram login, Threads tells you it needs a password for the account, so you can still log in to cancel. Click Continue.
10. Enter the confirmation code Threads emails you and click Continue.
11. The last screen, Confirm permanent account deletion, gives the date your profile will be deleted, 30 days out. Click the Delete button with your username on it. Threads signs you out and takes you back to its home page.

Deactivate account is the temporary one. Your profile and posts are hidden until you reactivate, which you do in Accounts Center or by logging back in to Threads. Nothing is deleted, and you can only deactivate once a week.

Delete account is permanent. Threads says your profile, posts, replies, likes and followers will be removed, and that once deletion begins you can't get any of it back. Your profile is hidden straight away and deleted on the date from the last screen. Until then you can cancel in Accounts Center or by logging back in to Threads (Meta notes the window varies by region). Meta's help page adds that once the profile is gone, the same Instagram account can't be used to sign up for Threads again for 90 days.

Neither choice touches Instagram. Your Threads and Instagram accounts are listed apart in Accounts Center, each with its own Manage button, and Meta's deletion page says deleting Threads won't delete your Instagram or Facebook account.