How to Leave a Platform Without Losing Your Network

To leave a social platform without losing the people you care about, do it in order: download your data, tell people where you're going, keep both accounts running for a few weeks, protect your old username, and only then deactivate or delete. Most of the network people lose when they leave is lost because followers never learned where they went.

The steps below work for any platform. The details for moving between servers on Mastodon and Bluesky are at the end, since those networks are built to let you move.

1. Download your archive first

Before you change anything, request a copy of your data. Every major platform offers one, usually under settings for "your account" or "your information". On X, look for "Download an archive of your data". On Instagram and Facebook, use "Download your information" in Accounts Center. TikTok and LinkedIn have similar options in their privacy or data settings.

Archives can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to prepare. Request one early, and check that it opens before you move on. A good archive includes your posts, photos, videos, messages and the list of accounts you follow. That last list is useful later, when you look for the same people elsewhere.

Save it somewhere you'll find it in five years, not just in your downloads folder.

2. Decide where you're going and set it up properly

Create your new account before you announce anything. Fill in the profile, use a recognizable photo and name, and post a few times so people who find you don't land on an empty page. If you can, use the same handle or something close to it.

Set up two-factor authentication on the new account straight away and review its privacy settings; the privacy checker covers eight common apps.

3. Tell people, more than once

One goodbye post reaches a small fraction of your followers, because most feeds are ranked and most people don't check every day. Plan to say it several times over a few weeks:

• Pin a post on your old profile with your new handle and a short reason, if you want to give one.
• Add the new handle to your old bio and display name, where it shows up next to everything you post.
• Reply to the people you talk to most and tell them directly.
• Tell your group chats and your email list, if you have one. These channels don't depend on any one platform.

Keep your old account's links to the new one simple and consistent. Long explanations get skimmed.

4. Overlap for a few weeks

Run both accounts for a while. Post on the new one first, then mention it on the old one. As people find you, follow them back. Many networks let you search for contacts or import a list of accounts you followed elsewhere. Check what any third-party tool asks for before you use it, and never give one your password.

Watch who arrives. After a few weeks you'll know which friends made the move and which ones you'll need to keep in touch with another way.

5. Protect your old username

When an account is deleted, its username may eventually become available to anyone. Someone could register it and pretend to be you, using your old followers' trust.

If that's a risk for you, consider leaving the old account in place instead of deleting it. Remove most of the old posts if you like, keep the pinned post pointing to your new home, turn on two-factor authentication, and change the password to something long and unique. A dormant, secured account is hard to impersonate.

6. Deactivate or delete, when you're ready

If you do want the account gone, know the difference between deactivation and deletion on that platform.

Deactivation usually hides your profile while keeping the data, and on some platforms it's the first step toward deletion. On X, deactivating starts a window of about 30 days, after which the account is deleted. Deletion on Meta's apps normally comes with a 30-day period during which you can cancel. After that, removing everything from their systems can take longer. Read the platform's current help page before you start, since these windows change.

Remember that deletion can't recall posts other people have copied, screenshotted or quoted. It also doesn't delete the archive you saved, which is why step 1 comes first.

Moving within the fediverse or Bluesky

Some networks are designed for leaving one host and joining another without starting over.

On Mastodon, you can move from one server to another. Set up the new account, create an alias pointing from the new account to the old one, then start the move from the old account. Followers on servers that support it are moved to your new account automatically. Export the list of accounts you follow, and your blocks and mutes, then import them on the new server. Your old posts stay behind, so download your archive first. After a move, you have to wait 30 days before moving again. Our fediverse explainer has more background.

On Bluesky, your account has a permanent ID that isn't tied to any single server, so it can move between hosting providers with your posts and followers intact. Most people never need to do this, but it means your identity isn't locked to one company. See the Bluesky explainer.

Threads accounts with fediverse sharing turned on can be followed from Mastodon and other fediverse apps. That can help you keep some followers if you move to the fediverse, but it isn't a full migration.

A short timeline

• Week 1: request archives, set up the new account, secure it.
• Weeks 1 to 4: announce, pin, update bios, overlap, follow people back.
• Week 4 or later: decide between a secured dormant account and deletion.
• After that: check the old account once in a while, or after any security news about the platform.

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