How-To · 4 min read

How to Delete Your Instagram Account without Losing Photos

LimeVPN

· May 12, 2021 · Updated March 12, 2026

Facebook has undoubtedly came across a lot of data breaches in the past, and this has raised some concerns. With the amount of information present on social media, is it worth the risk of exposing yourself to data theft? If you are privacy conscious and are considering leaving social media to try and protect as much of your data as you can from getting into the wrong hands, this article is for you. We will show you how to delete your Instagram account without losing photos, how to temporarily disable your Instagram account, and also how to permanently delete Instagram.

In 2019, on a Facebook data breach, over 300 million user data came into exposure on the dark web for about two weeks. The data involved includes user phone numbers, IDs, and names as well. The security breach was reported as a result of illegal scraping or Facebook API abuse. Instagram is a popular app owned by Facebook. Even though it hasn’t been mentioned as a victim of any of Facebook’s data breaches, one may wonder what protection it offers. If your reason for not making any move yet is because you are worried about your photos, then this guide is for you. We would take you through how to delete your Instagram account without losing photos.

Why You Should Know How to Delete Your Instagram Account without Losing Photos

Even after knowing how to delete your Instagram account without losing photos, your data is still available on their server. Based on the data breaches that have occurred in the past, it’s possible that you too may suffer from it one day in the event of an Instagram breach. By this, it would be wise to protect your data even if you temporarily disable your account. By protecting your data, you would have to delete anything that gives too much information about you on your profile. Things like location, place of work, etc should be kept off as an attacker could easily target you with those.

Downloading Your Instagram Photos

If you need your photos and a copy of the comments you have posted on Instagram before pausing the service, here is how. It’s easy and takes up to 48 hours for you to get the file. So hold on until you have gotten everything you need before you proceed with deleting your account. Follow the steps to know how to delete your Instagram account without losing photos:

Launch the Instagram app
Tap on the profile icon at the bottom right corner of the app
Go to the menu button located at the top right corner of the app
Click on ‘Settings’
Go on ‘Security’
Tap on ‘Download Data’
Provide your email address in the field

When you are done with this, Instagram would send you an email with a link that you can download your files from. It can take as long as 48 hours so you would need to be patient.

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How to Pause Instagram Account

If you need a break from Instagram, you can choose to either pause your Instagram account or delete it completely. If you pause your Instagram account, your profile, photos, and also comments would be hidden. Note that doing this doesn’t delete your account.

Log on to Instagram from your computer web browser
At the top right corner of the page, you would see a profile icon to click.
Click on ‘Edit Profile’
Tap on the link with the caption “Temporarily Disable My Account”
You would be asked for a reason why you are deactivating your Instagram account
Input your password to show it’s you
Click on the ‘Temporarily Deactivate Instagram Account’ option

This would pause your Instagram account and allows you to lay low for a while.

Permanently Delete Your Instagram Account

If you want to leave Instagram completely, this is a guide on how you can delete your account permanently.

Go to Instagram’s Account Deletion page
Log into your account
You would be asked to provide a reason for the account deletion. Choose from the options
Enter your password to verify it’s you
Click on ‘Permanently Delete’ at the bottom of the page

By following the above steps, you would have deleted your account either permanently or temporarily. The good side is that you don’t have to lose your data in the process but can have everything downloaded on your device before you delete it.

Conclusion

When it comes to ensuring internet privacy and data safety, there can be no compromise. Your data can be used for malicious reasons that may ruin your life or cause some problems for you in the event of a data breach. That’s why you need to protect your data through any means necessary. you can pause your Instagram account or even delete it completely if you are not sure of the safety of your data there. This guide has given you detailed steps on how to go about it without losing your photos and comments. Apart from this action, there are other ways to ensure that your data is safe on the internet. Using a VPN is one of them as it encrypts your data during an exchange. Some VPN services are more potent than others when it comes to privacy and security. And so to get the full package and ensure that your data is safe from third parties, use LimeVPN.

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LimeVPN

The LimeVPN team is dedicated to helping you stay safe, private, and free online. We write expert guides on VPN technology, digital privacy, and internet security so you can make informed decisions about your online protection.

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