How to Mass Delete DeviantArt Comments, Posts or Account

Why Your Old DeviantArt Comments Are the Hard Part

DeviantArt keeps a tidy list of the art and status updates you've published, but nothing in your settings or My Studio lists the comments you've written. Closing the account doesn't clean them up either. DeviantArt's own closing screen says your old comments stay put, with your username grayed out and struck through. Whether you want a cleaner profile or want to leave for good, deal with the comments first, because they're the part DeviantArt makes hardest.

Closing Your Account Doesn't Delete Everything

DeviantArt's deactivation page spells out what goes when you close the account, and the comments you've left on other people's art aren't on that side of it.

Your published deviations and posts sit in My Studio. The Deviations and Posts tabs list what you've put out, and you can work through them one at a time from there. Neither Account Settings nor My Studio has a list of your comments. The only place they collect is an optional Comments section on your profile, so without it, finding them by hand means remembering every deviation and profile you've ever replied to, back to the day you joined.

How to Delete Your Content Fast Using Redact

Redact reads your DeviantArt account directly and finds the deviations, comments, favorites and status posts you made, including comments on other people's work that you'd never find again by scrolling. You choose which of the four go, narrow it with filters, and check the list before anything's deleted. It runs on your own computer, and DeviantArt cleanup needs Premium, though downloading and connecting are free.

1. 1

   Download Redact and connect DeviantArt

   Download Redact for Windows, macOS or Linux and create your account. Click Add account, choose DeviantArt, then Connect DeviantArt to sign in, or Import from browser if you're already signed in there. Your password goes straight to DeviantArt. Redact finds your comments through the Comments section of your DeviantArt profile, so if you've taken it off, put it back with Add Section on your profile page before you run it.

   

   Once it's linked, DeviantArt shows up in your accounts list marked Connected, and clicking that row opens the screen where you choose what goes.

   

2. 2

   Pick a one-click cleanup, or switch to Advanced

   The screen opens in Easy mode with four big tiles, Your Deviations, Your Comments, Your Favorites and Your Posts. Click one or several. For keyword and engagement filters, flip the toggle at the top right from Easy to Advanced.

   

3. 3

   Choose what to delete

   In Advanced, Filter Types starts with all four boxes ticked. Untick what you want to keep. To clear only your replies, leave just Comments, and keep all four if you're leaving the site.

   

4. 4

   Set a date range if you want one era gone

   All time to now reaches everything you've posted since you joined. Status posts are the exception, because each run only sees your newest 24. A date range or keyword can only pick from those 24, so to clear more, run it with no date, keyword or engagement filter and repeat until Preview finds none left. Pick Week, Month or Year for a quick window, or type a start and an end date into the two boxes to clear one stretch of time.

   

5. 5

   Narrow it with keywords

   Open Deletion Options. Each keyword box only narrows its own kind of content. Comment keywords to delete filters comments, Post keywords to delete filters status posts, and Title keywords to delete filters deviations and favorites by title, plus comments by the title of the deviation or the username of the profile they were left on. Comments on status posts or on deleted deviations have no title to match, so they're deleted whatever the keyword unless you untick Comments. Any other type you leave ticked is deleted in full, so untick the types you aren't filtering. Type a word or phrase and press Add to put it on the list. Every box matches whole words, so a keyword like "art" won't catch "artwork" or "party".

   

6. 6

   Spare your popular work

   Below the keyword boxes, Only delete NSFW content keeps deviations and favorites to the ones marked mature, and comments to the ones on mature deviations. Redact can't check status posts, profile comments or comments on deviations that have since been deleted, so those are still included unless you untick their type. The Engagement Filter sets a ceiling for favorites and comments on your deviations and status posts, and for likes on your comments, and Redact leaves anything above it alone, so the pieces people loved survive a sweep. Favorites aren't covered by it at all, so every favorite you've ticked is unfavorited no matter how many favorites or comments the piece has.

   

7. 7

   Preview, then delete

   Leave Preview Mode on and press Start Previewing. Redact lists everything that matches and deletes nothing. When the list looks right, pick Deletion Mode and press Start Deleting, or choose Review & Delete to see all matching content and select the items to delete. Review & Delete needs local archives turned on in Redact's Settings.

   

Favorites aren't deleted from anyone's gallery. Redact unfavorites them, so the art stays with its artist and just leaves your collection. If you'd like DeviantArt to stay clean from now on, Schedule Deletion reruns the same settings on a timer and clears new comments or posts as they age.

Deleting Your DeviantArt Account

DeviantArt calls closing an account deactivation. You get a 21-day grace period to change your mind, and after that it's permanent, so work through it in this order.

1. 1

   Download a copy of your data

   Open Personal data (it only shows up in the settings menu once you're on it) and click Request Personal Data for an archive of what DeviantArt holds on you. Save the originals of any art you want to keep as well, before you delete anything in the next step.

   

2. 2

   Clear what deactivation leaves behind

   Then run Redact, following steps 1 to 7 above, with Comments ticked, plus Favorites if you want those cleared too. Deactivation hides your deviations, journals and status posts and deletes them after 21 days, but your comments stay up under your struck-through name.

3. 3

   Open Settings from your avatar

   Sign in at DeviantArt, hover over your avatar at the top right and click Settings, and you'll land on the My account page of Account Settings.

   

4. 4

   Open Deactivation and read the list

   Click Deactivation in the menu on the left. The page spells out what deactivating does. Your profile is wiped, your deviations and journals go, the username can't be claimed again, leftover Points can't be transferred, and you can only log back in to see old Shop purchases.

   

5. 5

   Confirm with Yes, deactivate my account

   Press Yes, deactivate my account at the bottom of the page, or No, I want to stay to back out. DeviantArt's help center says it then asks for your password (unless you signed up through a social login) and emails you a Deactivate Account link. Click it, press Yes, deactivate my account again, and confirm your reason to finish.

The Remove Personal Data button on the same Personal data page goes further and deletes your identifying information from DeviantArt's servers. It needs the account deactivated first and can't be undone. Our DeviantArt privacy settings guide covers how that removal works.

Save a Copy First

Nothing Redact deletes comes back, and DeviantArt's own deletion is final once its 21-day grace period ends. If there's art you want to keep, download your originals before the run, and use Request Personal Data for a full archive of the account. Redact's Preview Mode costs nothing to run twice, so check the list until it matches what you meant.

Redact cleans up much more than DeviantArt, including Twitter and Facebook, and the DeviantArt page has the full list of what it can do there, filter by filter.