How To Delete WordPress Accounts [Step-By-Step]

It’s better to delete your wordpress.org account rather than wait for unsolicited hackers to steal your account access for websites you no longer need.

And in this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll walk you through the entire process of deleting your WordPress account once and for all.

How To Delete a WordPress.org Account

As you might know already, wordpress.org is the self-hosted WordPress that provides the open-source software needed to keep the wordpress.com platform up and running.

Deleting the wordpress.org account would mean deleting all the content from all the websites you own.

Here are the steps to delete your wordpress.org account:

1. Use your username and password to login into your wordpress.org account

You can use your Apple or Google account to sign into the specific WordPress account you want to delete. The URL for your WordPress account will be https://wordpress.com/log-in and not yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/

2. Delete Active Websites Under “My Site” Tab

After you log into your wordpress.org account, you’ll see two tabs in the top left corner: “My Site” and “Reader”. Click on “My Site” —> “Manage”—> “Settings”.

Scroll down the page, and you’ll find the option to “Delete your site permanently.”

Cross-check the website(s) before proceeding to delete as you are about to give up your website’s domain address and written and visual media.

You will not be able to access them again after the 30-day cooling period.

So in case you want to save your posts and media gallery, you can click on to “Export Content” option to convert all your content to a .zip file, which will be available for download.

WordPress account holders can choose to repurpose user-generated content for future use.

After this is done, here’s what you need to do permanently delete your website(s) from WordPress open-source database:

• Click on the “Delete Site” button at the bottom of the page after re-checking your domain address.
• You’ll see a dialog box. You’ve to enter your website’s domain address for last-minute confirmation.
• Finally, click on the red-colored “Delete this site” button to permanently delete the domain and its web address.

Note: These steps are for deleting one website in your wordpress.org account. You’ve to repeat these steps for all websites under your account.

3. Close Your WordPress.Org Account

It’s important to recall that closing your WordPress account will remove all website(s) saved in the WordPress software under your name.

Once you close your WordPress account, all connected services from Gravatar, WooCommerce, IntenseDebate, and Crowdsignal will be closed, and you will not be able to open a new WordPress account for 30-days using the email address you signed up to login to your WordPress account.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Head over to the upper left-hand corner of your screen and click on your profile picture.
• Under the profile tab, select the second option of “Account Settings”.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the option “Close your account permanently” in red font with “>” sign next to it.
• Click on that sign, and you’ll see to find a new window titled “Close account”.
• You can review the important account closure information for one last time.
• Click on the “Close account” button and type in your user name as shown in the notification box to “close your account” forever.

Can I Restore My WordPress Account?

You can restore or recover your WordPress.org account within 30 days of closure, but you need to contact WordPress support directly and provide all the important credentials attached to your account.

The WordPress support team will reactivate your account if submitted within the 30-day window, but there are two points to note:

1. You’ll not be able to log into your WordPress.org account, which you’ve submitted for recovery.
2. Your domain address and all pages connected to the domain will be unreachable to any website visitor as they will get an error message page to ensure site data isn’t lost due to any visitor action.

In case the 30-day time period is over, and you can’t reactivate your account, it’s possible to open a new WordPress.org account with the same email address you used earlier.

The previous account data will be lost, so you need to signup with a new username.

Once your account is deleted and it’s not subsequently recovered within the 30-day window, the username will be available to the new wordpress.org account applicants for their use.

Alternatives To Deleting WordPress Account

Deleting a WordPress.org account involves a series of complicated and exhaustive procedures, so users can choose to consider the following alternatives to account closure:

1. Delete any individual website domain that the user doesn’t need.
2. Remove all website data (posts or media) hosted under the wordpress.com platform.
3. Change the account username with a brand-new name.

Wrapping Up

It’s important to delete your wordpress.org account if it has been used for important personal or commercial projects in the past, as unsolicited hackers might steal account data for unwelcoming reasons.

Many users find better CMS platforms that offer better customizable options than the WordPress open-source software, which prompts them to delete their .org account forever.

You should always cross-check the website domain(s) you wish to delete before proceeding with any steps outlined in this tutorial.

If you’ve accidentally deleted your .org account, directly contact WordPress support for a prompt account revival.