With the rise in popularity of online dating apps and websites like Tinder, Match, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, and others, more and more people are creating online dating profiles. However, there may come a time when you decide you want to delete your dating profile. You may have found success and no longer need the app, or perhaps you didn’t have a good experience and want to take a break from online dating. Whatever the reason, deleting your dating profile is usually pretty straightforward. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to delete your profile on the most popular dating apps and websites.
Reasons to Delete Your Dating Profile
There are a few common reasons people decide to delete their online dating profiles:
- You found a relationship and no longer need the dating app
- You’re taking a break from online dating
- You’re not happy with the app and want to try a different one
- You’re concerned about privacy and want to remove your personal information
- You’re receiving unwanted messages or attention
- You don’t have enough time to dedicate to online dating right now
Whatever your reasons, deleting your profile is usually quick and straightforward. Most dating apps and sites make it easy to delete or deactivate your account if you need a break or want to move on.
How to Delete Tinder
Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps worldwide with millions of users. Here’s how to delete your Tinder account:
- Open the Tinder app on your phone and log into your account
- Tap on your profile icon in the top left corner
- Go to the Settings section
- Scroll down and tap “Delete Account”
- Select a reason for deleting from the options
- Enter your password when prompted to confirm
Once you confirm, your account will be deleted. Keep in mind it can take up to 24 hours for your profile to be removed from Tinder’s servers. You can always reactivate your account within 3 months if you change your mind.
How to temporarily disable Tinder
If you think you may want to use Tinder again in the future, you can temporarily disable your account instead of permanently deleting it:
- Go to your profile icon and tap Settings
- Toggle the switch off next to “Show me on Tinder”
This will hide your profile so others can’t view and swipe on you. To reactivate, just toggle the switch back on.
How to Delete Bumble
Here are the steps to permanently delete your Bumble dating app account:
- Open the Bumble app and go to your profile
- Tap the settings gear icon in the top right
- Scroll down and select “Delete Account”
- Choose whether you’d like to temporarily disable or permanently delete
- Select the reason you are deleting your account
- Enter your password and confirm
Once confirmed, your Bumble account will be deleted. Like Tinder, it can take up to 24 hours for your profile to be fully removed from Bumble’s system. If you change your mind, reactivating your account within a month is simple.
How to temporarily deactivate Bumble
If you want to take a short break from Bumble without deleting your account:
- Go to your profile settings
- Toggle “Snooze Profile” on
- Choose the length of time to snooze your account
Snoozing will hide your Bumble profile during the selected time. Just return to your settings when ready to reactivate your account.
How to Delete Hinge
Follow these instructions to delete your Hinge dating profile:
- Open the Hinge app and go to your profile page
- Tap the settings menu in the upper right corner
- Select “Preferences”
- Scroll down and tap “Delete Account”
- Choose if you want to disable or delete your account
- Select a reason for deleting
- Enter your password to confirm
Once you confirm deletion, your Hinge profile will be removed within 24 hours. If you disabled your account, you have 30 days to reactive it before it is deleted.
How to temporarily hide Hinge profile
To take a break from Hinge without fully deleting, you can hide your profile:
- Go to your profile page
- Tap the settings menu
- Toggle “Snooze Profile” on
- Choose the length of time to hide your profile
Your profile won’t be visible to others during the snooze period. Your matches will remain so you can pick up where you left off when you reactivate your account.
How to Delete OkCupid
OkCupid makes it easy to delete your dating profile with these steps:
- Log into your OkCupid account in the app or website
- Go to the “Settings” page
- Select “Delete Account”
- Choose if you want to disable or delete your account
- Pick a reason for deleting your profile
- Enter your password to confirm
Once confirmed, your profile will be removed from OkCupid within 24 hours. You have 30 days to reactive your account if you just disabled it.
How to temporarily deactivate OkCupid
If you want to take a short break from OkCupid:
- Go to the Settings page
- Toggle the “Take a Break” setting on
- Choose the length of time to hide your profile
Your profile will become hidden during the selected break period. Your matches will remain so you can reconnect when you return without restarting the matching process.
How to Delete Plenty of Fish
Here is how to delete your Plenty of Fish (POF) dating profile:
- Log into POF and click on your username
- Select “Settings” from the drop down menu
- Click on “Delete Account”
- Choose if you want to disable or permanently delete
- Select a reason you are deleting your account
- Enter your password to confirm
Once you confirm deletion, your POF profile will be removed. If you selected to disable your account, you have 28 days before it is permanently deleted.
How to temporarily deactivate POF
To take a temporary break from Plenty of Fish:
- Go to the Account Settings
- Uncheck the box next to “Allow others to see my online status”
This will make your profile invisible to other POF users. Return to the settings and check the box again when you’re ready to reactivate your profile. Your matches and messages will be waiting for you when you get back.
How to Delete Match
Follow these steps to delete your Match dating account:
- Log into your Match account
- Click on your username and go to Settings
- Select the “Close Account” tab
- Choose if you want to disable or delete your account
- Pick a reason for closing your account
- Enter your password to confirm
Once confirmed, your Match profile will be deleted. If you only disabled the account, you have one month to reactivate before it is permanently removed.
How to temporarily hide your Match profile
Rather than fully closing your account, you can simply hide your profile for a while:
- Go to account Settings
- Uncheck the box next to “Allow other members to see my online status”
This will make you appear offline and prevent your profile from showing up in searches or matches. Your profile will reappear when you are ready to date again and recheck the box.
How to Delete eHarmony
Use these steps to delete your eHarmony account:
- Login to eHarmony and click on your username
- Select “Settings” in the dropdown menu
- Click on “Close Account”
- Choose if you want to disable or permanently delete
- Pick a reason you are closing your account
- Enter your password to confirm deletion
Once you confirm, your eHarmony profile will be removed within 24 hours. If you disabled your account, you have up to 6 months before it is deleted so you can reactivate your membership.
How to temporarily deactivate eHarmony
To take a short eHarmony break:
- Go to account Settings
- Under Privacy, uncheck the box next to “Allow my profile to be matched”
This will stop your profile from being matched with others. You can return to Settings and recheck the box whenever you’re ready to continue eHarmony.
How to Delete Zoosk
Use these steps to delete your Zoosk dating account:
- Log into your Zoosk account
- Click on your profile photo and go to Settings
- Select “Close account”
- Choose if you want to disable or permanently delete
- Pick a reason you are closing your account
- Enter your password to confirm
Once confirmed, your Zoosk profile will be deleted. If you opted to disable your account, you can still reactivate it within 3 months. After 3 months it will be permanently deleted.
How to temporarily deactivate Zoosk
To take a short break from Zoosk:
- Go to your account Settings
- Uncheck the box next to “Allow other members to see me online”
This will hide your profile from being viewed or matched with others. Return anytime in the next 3 months to reactivate your account.
Can You Recover a Deleted Dating Profile?
If you regret deleting your dating profile, it may be possible to recover it within a certain window of time. Here is the recover ability for some popular dating apps:
| App | Recover Timeframe |
|---|---|
| Tinder | 3 months |
| Bumble | 1 month |
| Hinge | 30 days if disabled |
| OkCupid | 30 days if disabled |
| POF | 28 days if disabled |
| Match | 1 month if disabled |
| eHarmony | 6 months if disabled |
| Zoosk | 3 months if disabled |
So if you deleted your dating profile but change your mind shortly after, you may be able to get it back by contacting the app’s customer support. However, if the deletion period has passed, the profile and all its data will be permanently gone.
Deleting Dating Profiles on Multiple Apps
If you have dating profiles on multiple apps and websites, deleting each one can be time consuming. Here are a few tips to streamline the process:
- Make a list of all the dating sites and apps you currently have profiles on
- Prioritize deleting profiles on paid subscription sites first so you can stop recurring charges
- Delete apps off your mobile device so you aren’t tempted to reactive them
- Use a password manager to change passwords as needed after deleting
- Batch delete profiles on similar apps back-to-back for efficiency
- Follow up via email to confirm profile deletion if possible
While it may take an hour or two to fully delete all your dating profiles, getting it done in one sit-down session prevents dragging out the process over several days or weeks.
Deleting Dating Profiles on Social Media
In addition to dedicated dating apps and websites, some people also use social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram as dating profiles. Here’s how to remove your dating-focused social media accounts:
Delete Facebook Dating Profile
- Go to your Facebook Dating profile page
- Tap the 3 dots settings icon in the upper right
- Select “Delete Profile”
- Confirm that you want to permanently delete your Facebook Dating profile
This will only delete the dating profile and not your regular Facebook account.
Delete Instagram Profile
- Go to your settings page
- Select “Help” in the menu
- Tap “Delete Your Account”
- Choose “Permanently delete my account”
- Re-enter your password and confirm deletion
Once confirmed, your entire Instagram account along with all photos, followers and data will be permanently deleted within 30 days.
Conclusion
Deleting online dating profiles fully removes your presence, information, matches and conversations from dating platforms. With privacy and security a growing concern, periodically deleting these profiles is a smart practice if you are not actively using them. While the process varies a bit by app and website, the steps provided above cover how to delete profiles on the most popular dating sites. Just be sure to act within the account recovery timeframe if you change your mind afterwards. With online dating more common than ever, properly managing your dating profiles is an important way to protect your privacy.