How to Delete a Lyft Account

You can't delete it, but here's how to deactivate your Lyft account

Screenshot of Lyft Help Center page.
by Susan J. Owens
Susan J. Owens is a tech writer focused on AI, blockchain, and virtual machines. Her work appears in InformationWeek, Entrepreneur, and Fast Company.
Updated August 23, 2019

As a ride-sharing service, Lyft offers a less expensive alternative to taxis, but if you're no longer using it, you may want to know how to delete your Lyft account. While there's no way to completely terminate your account, you can deactivate it. This keeps your account information intact if you choose to re-active your account later.

Why You Can't Delete Your Lyft Account

According to the Lyft Privacy Policy, when you signed up for the service and agreed to the terms of service, you granted Lyft a:

"Non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights you have in your Information, and to use, copy, perform, display and distribute such Information to prepare derivative works, or incorporate into other works, such Information, in any media now known or not currently known."

This is in spite of the policy clearly stating Lyft doesn't own your information, and you retain full ownership of all of your information.

Lyft retains your information for several reasons, including collecting any fees owed, resolving disputes, and to analyze usage of the Lyft Platform. This information can also be used in investigations, or to take actions as required and permitted by law.

How to Delete Information From Your Lyft Account

Your name cannot be deleted from your Lyft profile, but you can delete or modify other information, including your photo.

If you're a driver, your photo will remain along with your name. Riders will always be able to see Drivers’ names, rating, profile photos, and vehicle information.

  1. To delete information from your account, open the Lyft app and tap the menu icon in the top left corner, then tap View Profile. Drivers can edit driver-specific info in the Driver Dashboard.

  2. Edit or delete the information in your profile. You may also want to be sure to disable the Facebook mutual friends feature.

  3. Turn off location sharing by turning location sharing off through your device's location settings.

How to Deactivate Your Lyft Account

Lyft deactivates your account, rather than deleting it. The Lyft website refers to this process as deleting your account in its instructions, but you can later reinstate your account using whatever information remains in your profile when you deactivate it.

Still, if you're no longer using your Lyft account, you should deactivate it after you remove your personal information.

  1. The first step in deactivating your account is to go to Lyft Customer Support.

  2. A box will appear on the screen, asking you to fill out your name, email address, and phone number associated with your account.

    Screenshot of Lyft customer service screen.

  3. At the bottom of the form, select the What do you need help with, drop-down and choose whether you're a passenger or driver.

    Screenshot of Lyft customer service form.

  4. Select Profile and account settings.

    Screenshot of Lyft Profile and Account Settings.

  5. Select Delete my account.

    Screenshot of Lyft Delete my account option.

  6. Lyft will ask you to provide a reason why you're leaving. Enter your response.

  7. When finished, select Submit at the bottom of the screen.

Lyft can take up to two days to confirm that your account is deleted. If you don't receive confirmation from Lyft, you can email Lyft at support@lyft.com to check on the status of your account.