Deactivating an Account
Temporarily disabling or hiding an account when a service offers a reversible alternative to deletion.
The useful mental model.
Start with the part that changes what you actually do or expect when you meet this concept in everyday digital life.
Before you change it
Check what else depends on this account or identity — recovery methods, subscriptions, purchases, contacts, files and public links can all be connected.
The common confusion
Profile visibility, sign-out, deactivation, uninstalling an app and deleting an account are different actions. Treat them as separate layers.
What connects to this?
Digital life is a system. Follow the neighboring identity, data, design, security or business layer instead of stopping at one definition.
Deleting an Account
Permanently requesting removal of an account relationship and some or all associated service data, subject to the provider’s rules and legal obligations.
Understand it →device actionUninstalling an App
Removing an app’s installed software from a device without automatically deleting the user’s account or every copy of associated data.
Understand it →identity conceptOnline Account
A persistent relationship between a person and a service, typically represented by credentials, settings, history, entitlements and stored data.
Understand it →Check the underlying references.
G7 prioritizes primary technical documentation, public-interest institutions and strong research. Product-specific behavior can change, so current service documentation remains important.