So, you want to know how to delete Signal account data before you delete the app? It may be easier than you think. In this article, we’ll provide the exact steps you can take—no matter if you use iPhone, Android, or a computer to send your Signal messages.
Signal is a popular privacy-focused messaging app. They’re known as one of the most secure messaging apps in the business. However, no matter how safe and private a messaging app is, it’s important not to leave unused app accounts open and idle.
If you’re no longer actively using Signal, it is better to delete the app instead of leaving it vulnerable to hackers. We don’t want your messages or identity to be stolen. Without further ado, here’s how to delete Signal account data.
How to delete Signal account data
It’s quite easy to delete your Signal account. Here’s how to do it across different devices.
Delete Signal account on iPhone
- Open your Signal app
- Tap your profile icon
- Tap Settings
- Tap Account
- Tap Delete Account
- Enter your Signal number
- Tap Delete account
- Tap Confirm Delete
Delete Signal account from Android
- Open your Signal app
- Tap your profile icon
- Tap Account
- Tap Delete Account
- Enter your Signal number
- Tap Delete account
- Tap Confirm Delete
Delete Signal account from Desktop
- Open Signal
- Navigate to Preferences
- Mac: Go to Signal > Preferences
- Windows: Go to File > Preferences
- Linux: Go to File > Preferences
- Select Clear Data
- Select Delete All Data to confirm.
It’s important to remember that when you delete from your Desktop, it does not delete your mobile account. You will need to follow specific phone instructions to completely delete your Signal account.
Deleting old and unused accounts is a good practice to improve your personal online security. Let’s discuss why.
Cybersecurity 101: The case for deleting unused accounts
Now that we’ve discussed how to delete Signal account data, let’s discuss why you should. Put more broadly: Why should you delete an unused account of any kind instead of simply moving on? The answer comes down to personal security.
Deleting apps that you are no longer using is crucial for maintaining reliable cybersecurity. When you leave unused apps on your device or keep profiles open they can become a liability.
Think of this in the context of corporate email. When an employee moves on from a company, the IT department usually shuts down that person’s old accounts. This prevents hackers from finding, hacking, and exploiting that old account in the future for nefarious practices.
The same is a risk for individuals who don’t close accounts. Data breaches can include the details of long-forgotten accounts from years past. Meanwhile, hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in forgotten apps and unused software to gain access to your device or steal personal information.
Even if the app itself is not a security risk, it may still collect data from your device, including your location and browsing habits, which can be sold to advertisers or used for malicious purposes.
In addition, keeping unused apps on your device can also take up valuable storage space, slowing down your device and reducing its overall performance. This can make it more difficult to use your device efficiently.
By regularly deleting unused apps from your device, you can reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and protect your personal information from being compromised. It’s a simple but effective step that can help safeguard your device and your online identity.
Best encrypted messaging apps
While we’re on the subject of encrypted messenger apps, let’s discuss some of the most popular and secure. We wrote another article breaking down our favorite encrypted messaging apps. Here’s a quick overview:
- Signal puts messaging security as the primary feature. Even though this article is technically about deleting your Signal account, we can’t discount the merits of Signal as a secure messaging app. No list of encrypted messenger apps would be complete without it. Signal is one of the most popular chat apps, giving you access to end-to-end encryption and an open-source protocol.
- Telegram is another popular chat app that puts privacy, encryption, and security first. Telegram uses strong encryption, an open API, and features like self-destructing messages to keep your conversations truly private.
- Threema offers many of the same things you’ll love about Telegram and Signal, including open-source API and end-to-end encryption. But Threema also goes one step further by offering a premium chat tool. So, if you want to replace Discord, Slack, or Microsoft Teams with a safer business chat app, try Threema.
- Wire also caters to the business crowd, offering chat tools, along with other business features like secure file sharing and video conferencing. And of course, it is one of the most secure chat apps available.
- Session is a private messaging tool that uses the onion network (Tor) to send and receive messages. Unlike most messaging apps, Session doesn’t require your personal information to create an account and it doesn’t track your data or location. It’s considered more private, while also relying on the same strong security features as the other apps on our list.
Stay more secure (no matter your messenger)
One way to improve the security of your messages from third-party interception —no matter which one you use—is to tunnel all your internet activity through a VPN.
VPN stands for virtual private network. It is a tool that allows you to encrypt your online traffic and route that activity through a private server before it travels to your end destination. Between encryption and private routing, your personal IP is kept more anonymous and your online activity is better protected—making it difficult for outside parties to track you or intercept your traffic.
In the context of online messengers, this means that you can add another layer of encryption and security to your daily correspondence. This is most beneficial when you’re on a shared network such as public Wi-Fi, or if your messenger connection is blocked due to your location.
