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AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site. If you really don't want to have an Apple ID associated with your identity, it is possible to delete it. Here's how to eliminate the Apple-centric account. There are a few reasons to delete an Apple ID account completely, including some that are quite sensible and plausible. For example, a person may have multiple accounts set up by accident but only wants to use one and not the other. On the other end of the scale, there's reasons such as no longer wanting to be associated with Apple or its products at all, or a person wishing to disassociate themselves from technology as a move to go "off-grid." Regardless of the reason, Apple offers the option to delete your Apple ID account. The results of deletionAs Apple has a strong track record concerning user privacy, the deletion of an Apple ID is quite easy to accomplish, much like the ability to request all of the data it has on file for your account. However, the action of deleting the account can have far-reaching effects. Obviously, the main change is that you cannot sign in to an Apple ID once it has been deleted. Apple removes the account details associated with the Apple ID, permanently deleting them and making them unusable for all Apple services, such as the App Store, iTunes, Apple Pay, iMessage, and any purchased or downloadable content on those services. This also means any user data associated with the account stored on Apple's servers will be deleted, including any photographs, videos, documents, and other content stored in iCloud. Even Apple Store appointments and AppleCare support cases are canceled as part of the process, but it doesn't cancel any repairs or Apple Store orders. Any subscriptions linked to the account will be automatically canceled at the end of their billing cycles, but you won't be able to use your Apple ID to access them. Users enrolled in the iPhone upgrade program will continue to make payments for their devices. This page offers to delete your account, among other data-related items These changes also affect things you may have acquired from Apple's digital storefronts and already downloaded. You won't be able to watch rented items, authorize computers to play DRM-protected content you previously acquired, nor re-download any purchased items, among other problems. If you delete the account, Apple warns that it is a permanent event. "After your account is deleted, Apple can't reopen or reactivate your account or restore your data," Apple warns. Apple doesn't delete all of the data associated with the account, such as transactional information for financial reporting or information needed to comply with a court settlement. But outside of these exceptions, the Apple ID will be functionally useless to its user once the deletion takes place. Apple recommends performing a few actions before going through with a deletion, to safeguard any personal data that you may want to retain. What to do before you delete your Apple ID account
The deletion processIf you have decided that deleting your account is the right course of action, Apple requires users go through a number of steps. By the end of the process, the user will have made the request to delete the account completely. How to delete your Apple ID account
The process itself isn't an automatic deletion of the account, but instead, a request to Apple to have the account and associated data deleted. For security reasons, Apple will verify the account deletion request before proceeding, and the entire process could take seven days to complete. During this verification period, the account will still be active. It is also possible to reactivate the account during this time, by contacting Apple Support and providing the access code. An alternative - account deactivationIf permanently deleting your data isn't appealing, you could still temporarily close your account down while keeping the data and other elements intact. Apple calls this account deactivation. You don't have to delete your Apple ID. You could deactivate it instead. Rather than deleting data, deactivation suspends access to the Apple ID account completely, including all data associated with it. Processing and access of the data ceases almost completely on Apple's side, with the exception of items where it is obligated to use it for legal purposes, such as for financial returns. The end result is practically the same as for account deletion, as it has effectively identical results for users, except for the possibility of bringing the account back online with all data intact. The process is also almost identical, with a few small changes needed to undertake. How to deactivate your Apple ID account
Again, there is a lag of a few days before Apple deactivates the account, and you could supply the access code to Apple Support to call off the deactivation. Unlike the deletion process, you must keep the access code for your Apple ID in a safe place, as you need to supply it to Apple to restore the account in the future. How do I remove a second Apple ID from my iPhone?How to Remove Your Apple ID from Your iPhone. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. ... . Then tap your Apple ID at the top of the screen. ... . Next, tap iTunes & App Store.. Then tap your Apple ID at the top of the screen.. Next, tap View Apple ID. ... . Then tap Remove this Device. ... . Tap the back button to go back to your Apple ID page.. How do I remove alternate Apple ID?Delete an additional email address
Sign in to appleid.apple.com. Select Personal Information, then select Reachable At. To delete one of your additional email addresses, click the Remove button next to the address.
How do you Unassociate an Apple ID?Remove your associated iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Tap Settings, tap your name, then tap Media & Purchases. Tap View Account. You might be asked to sign in. Scroll down, then tap Remove This Device.
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