How to Delete a Spotify Account

When you cancel a Spotify account, it automatically reverts to a free account that you can continue using without any additional charge. You will still have access to all of the same music, playlists, and friend connections, with the caveat that advertisements will play in between songs. If you want to truly delete a Spotify account so it doesn't exist anymore, you have to go through a slightly more complicated process.

If you signed up for Spotify with a student discount, and you delete the account, you won't be able to reply until a full year has passed.

Should You Close Your Spotify Account?

Spotify is a streaming music service that has an ad-supported free version and an ad-free premium version. If you have a premium subscription you're no longer using, you can simply cancel or unsubscribe from Spotify and revert to a free account. You can still use your free account on your computer, phone, smart speakers like Alexa, and elsewhere, with the caveat that you will have to listen to advertisements.

A woman permanently deletes her Spotify account using a laptop. — fizkes / iStock / Getty

If you don't want a free Spotify account, then simply cancelling your subscription isn't enough. To totally delete your account so it doesn't exist anymore, you have to go through a multi-step process to close your account.

When you close your Spotify account, the account is totally deleted. Additionally, the following things happen:

Your Spotify username can never be used with Spotify again.
Your playlists and saved music will be gone forever.
You will lose your followers.

A deleted Spotify account can be recovered within seven days of deletion. After that, it's gone for good.

How to Delete Your Spotify Account

If you really want to delete your Spotify account instead of reverting to a free account, follow these steps:

Navigate to support.spotify.com/contact-spotify-support/ and select Account.
Select I want to close my account.
Read the options and select CLOSE ACCOUNT if you really want to delete your Spotify account.

Select KEEP FREE ACCOUNT if you would rather convert to a free Spotify account.
Select CLOSE ACCOUNT.
Verify you're attempting to delete the correct account, then select CONTINUE.

If multiple people use your computer, this step is very important. Make sure you aren't deleting a friend or family member's Spotify account on accident.
Read the explanation, indicate that you have read and understand, then select CONTINUE.

This option will be grayed out until you indicate you have read the page.
When prompted, switch to your email client and look for an email from Spotify.
When the email from Spotify arrives, read it and then select CLOSE MY ACCOUNT.
When you see the all done message, that means your account has been successfully deleted.

What if You Change Your Mind About Deleting Spotify?

Spotify makes the account deletion procedure fairly lengthy because it's an irreversible process, so they want to give you a chance to rethink the decision before you close your account. However, there is a short grace period.

If you change your mind about deleting your Spotify account within seven days, you can undo the process. Spotify sends a confirmation email after your account has been closed, and that email includes a reactivation link. If you click that link within seven days of deleting your account, you will have the option to recover the account.

Seven days after deleting your Spotify account, you will lose the option to recover your account. You can still make a new account using the same email address, but you will have to select a brand new username, rebuild your library, and obtain new followers from the ground up.