Reddit offers users the ability to create and maintain communities on the platform. The communities revolve around specific common interests, and depending on the interests, some communities can have several thousand to million members. This can make it difficult to manage your community, especially if you do not have the resources or experience to manage it. There are several other reasons to delete your Reddit community, and this article will put you through how to make your decision if it is possible.
Deleting your community
Unfortunately, Reddit does not allow users to delete communities after they have been created. As a result, your community will continue to exist, even if you delete your Reddit account. The community will simply be up to be reclaimed by another user. However, the option Reddit gives moderators who want to call it quits on a community is to relinquish their moderator privileges.
How to stop being a mod
To relinquish your moderator privileges, click on “Mod tools” on your community’s homepage. This will direct you to the moderation control page. Here, navigate to “User management” on the left-side rail. Under here, click on moderators to access the page for adding, removing and managing the community’s moderators.
Once here, simply click on “Leave as mod” at the top-right corner of your screen. A prompt will come up, confirming that you really want to leave as moderator. Click on “Leave” to relinquish your moderator rights.
How to delete your Reddit account
You can delete your Reddit account across the different internet platforms you enjoy Reddit on. Here are the steps for the platforms:
Web browser
To delete your Reddit account via Reddit’s desktop website, the first step is to locate the dropdown icon next to your username icon at the top right corner of the screen. Clicking on the dropdown will reveal a series of links, including your “online status,” your profile, and a link to your avatar. Below these links is the “user settings” link.
Below these links is the “user settings” link. Clicking on user settings will take you to a page with multiple options, including “account,” “profile,” “safety and privacy,” “feed settings,” “notifications,” “subscriptions,” and “chat and messaging.” Ideally, you will arrive at the “account” section. However, you can simply click on it if you do not come there.
When you get to the account section, scroll to the bottom of the page, and you will find the option to delete your Reddit account at the bottom center of your screen. Click on it to delete the account.
Old web design
You can also delete your Reddit account on the old Reddit website version. You start by selecting “Preferences” at the top-right corner of your screen. The window you arrive at will have several options at the top, including “option,” “apps,” “RSS,” “feeds,” “friends,” “blocked,” “password/email,” and “delete.”
Select delete to go to the relevant section. Here, you can delete your Reddit account. Reddit will ask to verify your identity to ensure that a third party is not carrying out the act. You will also check a confirmation box confirming that you know the action you intend to perform is not reversible.
Mobile app
On the Reddit mobile app, you can delete your account by clicking your image icon at the top right corner of the screen to begin. This will reveal a panel that displays “my profile,” “create a community,” and others. Click on “Settings” at the bottom of the panel.
Under settings, simply scroll to the bottom of the page, and you will find the option to delete your Reddit account. Reddit will inquire if you want to delete your account, explaining that the action is irreversible. Simply click on delete to delete your account.
Mobile Website
To delete your Reddit account on the mobile website, click on the three-line icon on the top right corner of your screen. It will reveal a panel that discloses your user name, link to your inbox, coins, premium, powerups, and your communities. Under these, you will find “settings.” Clicking on this will subsequently reveal a dropdown, including “dark mode,” “ask to open app,” “language,” and “request desktop site.”
Clicking on account settings will take you to a page with multiple options, including “account,” “profile,” “safety and privacy,” “feed settings,” “notifications,” “subscriptions,” and “chat and messaging.” Ideally, you will arrive at the “Account” section. However, you can simply click on it if you do not come there.
When you get to the account section, scroll to the bottom of the page, and you will find the option to delete your Reddit account at the bottom center of your screen. Click on it to delete the account.
General considerations before deleting your account
Deleting your Reddit account does not delete your posts and comments. As a result, If your comments or posts contain your personal information, they will remain on Reddit despite deleting your account. Instead, you may have to individually delete your posts and comments on the platform to ensure your data does not persist after you delete the app.
How to delete Reddit posts
To delete a post, search for the post you want to delete. The easiest way to do this is to visit your profile, as it itemizes all the posts you have made on the platform. To go to your profile, locate the dropdown icon next to your username icon at the top right corner of the screen. Clicking on the dropdown will reveal a series of links, including your “online status,” your “profile”, and a link to your avatar. Select “Your profile.”
Your profile sorts your activity on the platform into “Overview,” “Posts,” “Comments,” “Saved,” “Hidden,” “Upvoted,” “Downvoted,” “Awards Received,” And “Awards Given.” For ease, navigate to “Posts” and search for the posts you want to delete. Once you find the post in question, simply look at the options below the post. However, you need to click on the three-line icon after options like the comment numbers, “Award,” “Share,” and “Save.” Clicking on the icon will reveal several more options, including “delete”. Click on delete to delete the post.
