Face it: You have more online accounts than you can really manage. This includes the ones you use all the time like Netflix, Facebook, and Amazon. Others used less often may be a travel app for a particular destination or a one-off purchase at a shopping site.

You don’t give any of these much thought until you receive a message your account has been hacked or you decide to delete your account. These concerns are multiplied for your Apple ID because it controls access to so many different devices and applications such as your iPhone, iTunes, iCloud, and Apple’s App Store.

Ideally, you’ll never need to delete your Apple ID, but maybe you have a good reason to do so.

For example, perhaps your account has become compromised, and it’s better to start over with a new one. Or maybe you’ve decided to move to a smartphone with a different operating system and want to delete this account you’ll no longer be using.

No matter the situation, we’ll go over how to delete Apple ID and create a new one if that’s your best option.

Modifying Your Apple ID Information

When deleting your account, first make sure all the credit card and other payment information have been removed from it.

In addition, remove or alter other personal information like your birthdate and contact info as much as allowed so it’s harder to ever tie any record of this account to you in the future.

It’s especially important to change your email address if you want to use it for a new Apple ID account. That’s because once you delete your Apple ID, you will not be able to use the email address associated with that old account to create a new one.

The Impact Of Deleting Your Apple ID Account

To be on the safe side, let’s go over the ramifications of deleting your Apple ID so you can make sure that’s what you really want to do. After your account is deleted:

• All your iCloud files – videos, photos, music, documents, and any additional content – will be deleted.
• You won’t be able to receive FaceTime calls or iMessages.
• You won’t be able to log in to Find My iPhone, Apple Pay, the App store, the iTunes store, or the iBooks store.  
• Any paid iCloud storage plan will be discontinued.
• Open support tickets and any Apple Store appointments will be cancelled.

If you’ve purchased an AppleCare plan, however, it will continue to be valid.

What To Do Before Deleting Your Apple ID

There are several steps you’ll want to complete before deleting your Apple ID to ensure minimum data loss and ease of continued service:

• As noted above, change the email address linked to your current account if you want to use it with a new Apple ID.
• Back up all iCloud data.
• Download purchases such as any music or video files which don’t have digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.

Remember: Any subscriptions you have through your Apple ID will be cancelled at the beginning of the new billing period after your account is deleted.

How To Delete Apple ID

Unfortunately, how to delete Apple ID isn’t quite as simple as clicking a “Delete This Account” button. Instead, there are four steps you’ll need to complete. This will not only delete your account, but also ensure you’ll be able to use all the devices and applications associated with your Apple ID.

1. Remove Devices Connected to Your Apple ID

There are two ways to disassociate devices connected to your account: from the settings options in iOS or at the Apple website.

To remove devices via iOS is a six-step process:

1. Open the Settings application.
2. At the top of the Settings screen, select the Apple ID banner.
3. Scroll down to the Apple devices section.
4. Select a Device.
5. Select Remove from Account.
6. Select Remove again to confirm.

Repeat until all devices have been removed from your account.

To remove devices via the Apple website is also a six-step process:

1. Go to appleid.apple.com.
2. Log in with your current Apple ID.
3. Scroll down to the section with your Devices.
4. Select a Device.
5. Select Remove.
6. Select Remove this [Your Device] to confirm.

Repeat until all devices have been removed.

2. Turn Off the Find My iPhone App

All devices – Mac, iPad, AppleWatch – which are connected to your Find My iPhone app must be unlinked. Otherwise, when you set up your new Apple ID, you will not be able to use this app with these devices.

To disable this feature for your iPhone and iPad is a seven-step process:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. At the top of the Settings screen, select the Apple ID banner.
3. Select iCloud.
4. Scroll down and select Find My iPhone.
5. Toggle Find My iPhone to the off position.
6. Enter your Apple ID password.
7. Select Turn Off to confirm.

To disable this feature for your Mac is a six-step process:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Select iCloud.
3. Scroll down to Find My Mac.
4. To turn off Find My Mac, select the checkbox.
5. Enter your Apple ID password.
6. Select Continue to confirm.

3. Deauthorize & Sign Out of Your iTunes, Mac, and iOS Accounts

Before you can start the account deletion process, you must deauthorize iTunes as well as sign out of your Apple ID account on your Mac and iOS.

Deauthorizing iTunes is a six-step process:

1. Open iTunes.
2. In the Mac menu bar, select Account.
3. Select Authorizations.
4. Select Deauthorize This Computer.
5. Enter your Apple ID password.
6. Select Deauthorize to confirm.

Signing out of your Apple ID on your Mac is also a six-step process:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Select iCloud.
3. In the iCloud preferences pane’s lower left-hand corner, select Sign Out.
4. Select Keep a Copy to retain a copy of all iCloud data on your computer.
5. If not, deselect all the data categories.
6. Select Continue.

Signing out of your Apple ID on your iOS is a four-step process:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. At the top of the Settings screen, select the Apple ID banner.
3. Scroll down and select Sign Out.
4. To confirm, enter your Apple ID password.

4. Delete Your Apple ID

Now, you can – at last! – delete your Apple ID which is only an eighteen-step process:

1. Go to the Apple Data and Privacy portal.
2. Log in with your Apple ID.
3. Select Continue.
4. Underneath the Delete your account section, select Get started.
5. Complete Apple’s recommended steps – the ones we’ve covered above – before deleting your account.
6. From the pull-down menu, select a reason for deleting your Apple ID account.
7. Select Continue.
8. You’ll be prompted to review the information about deleting your Apple ID account.
9. Select Continue.
10. Review the Deletion Terms & Conditions.
11. Select the checkbox to confirm you’ve reviewed this information.
12. Select Continue.
13. Select a contact method to receive updates of account status.
14. Select Continue.
15. Print out or write down your unique access code which will confirm your identity if contacting Apple Support as well as cancel the process of deleting your Apple ID if you change your mind.
16. To confirm you’ve saved it, you’ll have to enter the access code.
17. Select Continue.
18. Select Delete account.

It can take up to a week to complete the process to delete your account, and during this time, your Apple ID will still be valid.

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How To Create An Apple ID

Now that you know how to delete Apple ID, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a new account.

To create a new Apple ID on your Mac or PC is a ten-step process:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Select Account Sign In.
3. Select Create New Apple ID.
4. Agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
5. Fill out all the fields in the form to create a new Apple ID.
6. Select Continue.
7. Enter your payment information.
8. Select Continue.
9. Check your email for a verification email from Apple. 
10. Complete the steps in the email to confirm your email address.

After you verify your email address, you can log into all Apple services and stores.

To create a new Apple ID on your iPhone or iPad is a ten-step process:

1. Launch the iTunes Store App.
2. Scroll to the bottom and select Sign In.
3. Select Create New Apple ID.
4. Select the country or region for your payment method’s billing address.
5. Select Next.
6. Agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
7. Fill out all the fields in the form to create a new Apple ID.
8. Enter your payment information.
9. Check your email for a verification email from Apple. 
10. Complete the steps in the email to confirm your email address.

After you verify your email address, you can log into all Apple services and stores.

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