How to delete your Spotify account: steps and deadlines

You may have stopped listening to Spotify, or you may simply want it to hold nothing about you. Cancelling a subscription and closing an account are two different things, and mixing them up is common. This guide follows the steps in Spotify's own help centre, including the deadlines to know before you click.

Cancelling Premium is not the same as closing your account

If you pay for Premium, you can cancel it and change to the Spotify free plan to stop paying. You can still listen to music in shuffle mode, with ads.

That is not a deletion. Your account still exists, with your profile and your data. If your goal is to leave Spotify, you need to close the account.

Close your account and delete your data

Spotify's help centre has a dedicated link called "Close your account and delete your data". It covers closing a free account and deleting your data from all Spotify apps and services.

1. If you have a Premium plan, cancel it first so that you are on the free plan.
2. Open the help article "Closing your account and deleting your data" on the Spotify support site.
3. Use the closing link on that page and follow the instructions on screen.
4. Watch the inbox of the email address on the account. Spotify sends you the link that lets you reactivate it.

The exact screens after the link can change. Follow what the page asks rather than an old screenshot.

What you lose

Spotify notes that if you close your account and delete your data, you lose access to any audiobooks you purchased. The same applies to tickets for future live events bought through the account.

Check what you bought with the account before you go ahead, and decide whether you need it one last time.

The deadline to change your mind

After you close the account, Spotify emails you a link to reactivate it within 7 days. After those 7 days, the account cannot be reactivated and the process to delete your data is initiated. You can always create a new account.

You can use the same email address to create a new account 14 days after the date you closed the old one. Note the date of your request so you know when the deadline has passed.

If you cannot find the link or nothing happens

• Check that you are signed in to the right account. If you have more than one email address, you may have more than one account.
• Look in the spam folder of the account's email address for the reactivation message.
• Go back to the help article, which links to related articles and to Spotify's contact options.

Closing the account versus asking for erasure

Closing an account uses the tool the service gives you. Your legal right to have your data deleted is separate, and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) explains how it works in the UK. You can ask an organisation that holds data about you to delete it, and in some circumstances it must do so. The ICO says you should tell the organisation what personal data you want erased. You can ask verbally or in writing, but the ICO recommends following up in writing so you have clear proof of what you did.

The organisation has one calendar month to respond. In certain circumstances it can take up to an extra two months, and it should tell you within the first month if it needs more time. It can refuse in some cases, for example when it is legally obliged to keep the data, and it must then explain why and tell you about your right to complain to the ICO. If you are unhappy, raise a complaint with the organisation first. If you remain dissatisfied, you can complain to the ICO, or seek to enforce your rights through the courts.

What may remain visible after you close the account

Closing a Spotify account does not tell you what has been copied elsewhere, such as in directories or pages that repeat your name. Remove Me's free analysis needs no account. It looks at publicly visible web results, known public data breaches and a register of data brokers, and shows you a report. Remove Me does not yet send erasure requests on your behalf, so that step stays with you.