How to delete your Quora account

Quora can be a wellspring of useful information, but if you’re annoyed by constant notifications, want to cut down on distractions, or are concerned about privacy, you might decide to step away from the platform.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to delete your Quora account, share step-by-step instructions, troubleshoot common issues, and explain when deactivation might be a better choice.

Reasons to delete your Quora account

There are a few reasons why you might want to permanently delete your Quora account. A big one is digital security. Quora stores credentials and personal details that cybercriminals could target.

An inactive account can become an entry point for credential-stuffing attacks, where hackers use leaked login information to try to access your other online accounts. Deleting Quora helps to remove this potential vulnerability and keep your digital identity safe.

It might also be a sensible step if you’ve created multiple accounts and want to consolidate them to minimize the size of your digital footprint or avoid doxxing, cyber abuse, stalking, and bullying that are common threats on social media platforms.

What happens when you delete your Quora account?

Deleting your Quora account affects your data, content visibility, and your recovery options. It’s worth understanding exactly what will happen afterward before you click the delete button. Here’s what you need to know if you want to close your account for good.

Understanding permanent deletion

Deleting your Quora account permanently removes your profile, including your photo, bio, answers, comments, posts, votes, endorsements, and private messages. However, any questions you’ve asked will stay visible on the platform. Since questions are community-owned, they remain public but won’t be linked to your name.

Once you confirm the deletion, your account will be immediately deactivated, and the removal process will begin. If you sign back in within 14 days, the process will be canceled and your account restored.

Quora may retain some data if required to comply with legal obligations, such as subpoenas or court orders. Keep in mind that any of your content reshared or republished outside Quora won’t be automatically removed. While Quora’s Terms of Service require others to delete your content upon request, the platform itself can’t control external copies or links.

The 14-day grace period

When you request to delete your Quora account, it doesn’t disappear right away. Quora has a 14-day grace period, giving you a short window to change your mind before your profile and content are permanently erased.

During these two weeks, your account is deactivated rather than deleted. Your profile won’t appear publicly, and your content will be hidden from view, but everything remains stored on Quora’s servers. If you log back in at any point during this time, the deletion request is automatically canceled, and your account will be fully restored.

If you don’t sign in within the 14-day period, the deletion process will be completed. Once that happens, all your data and activity are permanently removed, and there’s no way to retrieve them. You’d need to create a new account from scratch if you decide to return to Quora later.

Will my content disappear from Google?

While deleting your Quora account removes your content from the platform itself, it won’t instantly erase it from Google search results.

Google collects information you share and keeps cached versions of web pages for a period of time. This data may still appear in search results until Google’s indexes are refreshed, which can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

What to do before you delete

Before you delete your account, there are a couple of things to check. Since all of your data will be removed once deletion is complete, it might be worth requesting that data from Quora. Also, if you’ve signed up using a Facebook or Gmail account, you’ll have to unlink the two accounts and set up a new password.

In this section, we’ll walk you through how to get ready to delete your account.

How to download your Quora data

If you want to keep a record of your contributions or account activity, you’ll need to download your data before deleting your account. The best way to do this is by sending an archive request directly to Quora via the website. To do this:

1. Go to the Quora contact page and select I want a copy of my data from the dropdown menu.
2. Fill out the form that pops up and click Submit.

You can also send an email to privacy@quora.com to make the request. After Quora confirms receipt of your data request, you’ll typically receive an archive of your content within 72 hours.

How to unlink Gmail or Facebook

If you set up your profile with Gmail or Facebook, you’ll need to unlink them and create a new password.

You can do this via desktop or mobile; the steps are the same. Here’s how:

1. Sign into Quora, navigate to Settings > Account, and find the Connected Accounts & Contacts section. Click Disconnect under the relevant account.

Once unlinked, you’ll need to set a new password. To do this:

1. Go to Settings > Account and click on Change Password.
2. Click the create an account password link.
3. Go to your email inbox and open the message from Quora. Click the link inside to set up your password.
4. Enter and confirm your new password. Click the Reset your password button.

How to permanently delete your Quora account

If you’ve decided it’s time to leave Quora for good, it only takes a few steps to delete your account. Below is step-by-step guidance about how to do it on desktop and mobile (the process is the same on both platforms).

1. Click your profile photo in the top right-hand of the screen and select Settings.
2. Click on Privacy in the left-hand menu.
3. Scroll to the Delete or Deactivate Your Account section and click on Delete Account.
4. Enter your password to verify and click Done. Note that this step may not be necessary if you’ve just reset your password.

If you signed up with Google or Facebook and don’t have a password, you’ll need to set one first by clicking the create an account password link. Alternatively, you can create an account password through the Account settings.

5. Click Delete again to confirm your choice.

Should you delete or deactivate your account?

Deleting your Quora account isn’t your only option if you want to take a break from the platform. You also have the option to deactivate your profile. This allows you to take a step back without losing your content or profile permanently.

Key differences

Deleting and deactivating your Quora account may seem similar, but they lead to very different outcomes. One is a temporary step that lets you take a break, while the other wipes your profile and content from the platform entirely.

When you deactivate your Quora account, you stop receiving emails and notifications, but your content remains visible. You can return at any time simply by logging back in, and your account will be fully restored. It’s a good option if you just want to take some time away from Quora.

Deleting your account, on the other hand, is permanent. After the 14-day grace period, your content and profile are permanently removed and can’t be recovered. It’s the best option if you’re certain you don’t want to have a presence on Quora anymore.

To deactivate your account, follow almost the same steps described in the How to permanently delete your Quora account section. Tap your profile icon, open Settings, go to the Privacy tab, and select Deactivate Account instead of Delete Account.

Common issues during account deletion

It’s not uncommon to run into problems when you’re trying to delete your Quora account. In this section, we’ll cover the most common issues users face when trying to delete their profile, along with the fixes you need to solve them.

Can’t log in or forgot password

You’ll need to log in to be able to delete your account, which can be a problem if you’ve forgotten your password. Here’s how to delete a Quora account without a password:

1. On the login screen, click Forgot password?
2. Enter the email address linked to your Quora account.
3. Go to your email inbox, open the password reset message from Quora, and click the link inside to create a new password.
4. Enter a new, strong password in the New Password and Confirm password fields, and click the Reset your password button to confirm.
5. If these steps don’t work, go to the Quora contact page and select I need help with my account from the dropdown menu.
6. Fill out the form, including your account email, a detailed description of the issue, and any screenshots that could help the customer support team solve your issue.

Not receiving confirmation email

When you request to delete your Quora account, the platform sends a confirmation email.

If this email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, it’s usually because it’s been filtered as spam or sent to the wrong inbox, so you’ll want to check your spam, junk, and promotions folders. Also, make sure that you’re signed into the same email address connected to your Quora account.

If you’ve used a work or school email to create your Quora account, there might be institutional filters that are set to block messages from platforms like Quora. Try adding Quora to your safe sender list or resubmit your account deletion request using a personal email. To do so:

1. Go to Settings > Account > Add Another Email Address.
2. Enter your personal email and click the Add Email button.

If it still doesn’t arrive, contact Quora’s support desk by clicking “Contact” from the login screen.

Linked Gmail or Facebook causing trouble

If your Quora account is linked to Google or Facebook, you’ll have to unlink your account and set a new password.

If you’re unable to unlink or access your connected account, contact Quora’s support desk via the contact page by selecting “I need help with my account” from the dropdown menu.