How to Delete Your PayPal Account: A Comprehensive Guide

It’s always a good idea to delete accounts you don’t use, as you improve your cybersecurity in doing this. If you don’t use PayPal and you are confident that you won’t need it in the visible future, you may want to delete it from your devices. But in this way, it will still be in the system with some of your personal data. In this article, you can learn how to delete a PayPal account correctly and what you should know before doing this. 

Reasons to Delete Your PayPal Account 

Before we talk about how to close a PayPal account, let’s focus on the reasons why you may want to do that. 

One of the most popular reasons for deleting PayPal is when you decide to use another platform. It can be anything from Venmo to Payoneer, and deleting your unused PayPal account ensures you are not overwhelmed with all the different payment options. 

PayPal is also commonly used by businesses. You may have opened it to accept payments from clients, but your business is no longer active. In this case, closing your account is reasonable, as you might accidentally send money to someone with high business fees.  

However, these two reasons are overshadowed by the reason when you delete your account because of the potential security risks. While PayPal uses plenty of security features, it is still susceptible to hacks and fraudulent activity. Deleting your financial and personal details from the system ensures that this information won’t be stolen.  

Regardless of your reasons for deleting your account, you should carefully look through your entire account activity and tie all the loose ends. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Deleting Your PayPal Account 

How do you cancel a PayPal account the right way? Before you can proceed to delete your information, you should ensure there are no unresolved issues with your account. 

Get rid of pending payments 

You should fix any issues you may have with transactions. If you have any pending payments left, they need to be resolved before you cancel a PayPal account. Customer support may help you if some problems arise. 

Make sure your balance is empty

PayPal doesn’t allow you to close an account with money in it, so you will be notified about this right away. You can send any remaining balance to your bank account, another PayPal account, etc. 

Copy transaction history if you need it 

Keep in mind that your transaction history will be gone along with your account. If you will need this information in the future, you should save the history to your device. 

If everything seems correct and there are no unfixed issues, you can deactivate it. 

Delete Your PayPal Account on Desktop

To permanently delete your PayPal account using your desktop, there are only a few steps you should take:

• Open the official PayPal website and log in to your account. 
• Go to Settings of your account.
• Find “Account options,” and there will be the “Close Your Account” variant.
• You might be asked to enter your bank details. Once you fill them in, choose “Close account.”

That’s the entire process, which can be completed in several minutes. 

Delete Your PayPal Account from Your Phone App 

Do you wonder how to deactivate a PayPal account using your phone? Thanks to the user-friendly interface of the PayPal app, it is also an easy process:

• You should open the app and go to the profile icon in the top left corner.
• There you should find the “Close Your Account” option.
• Enter your financial details if asked.
• Tap “Close account.” 

As you can see, the processes of deleting your account from an app and your desktop are identical and don’t require any effort. 

What Happens After Deleting Your PayPal Account? 

Once your PayPal account is deleted, you will no longer be able to open your account again, request or send money, and view your history. The information will be permanently deleted from servers, so there is no way to restore it. 

It’s important to note that if your PayPal account is linked to third-party services, such subscriptions won’t be automatically deleted. You should delete your PayPal account details directly on those platforms. 

If there were any unpaid requests for money sent to you, they would be canceled along with your account. Also, you will no longer have access to PayPal Smart Connect or any coupons provided to you by the company. 

Conclusion

Now, you know how to remove a PayPal account, but it’s vital that you take all the mentioned precautions. Once you delete your account, you won’t be able to access it again, and your entire transaction history will be gone. You should always deal with any pending transactions, withdraw your funds, and copy the history if you need it in the future beforehand. 

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