How to Delete Your GitHub Account and Data (2026)

Deleting a GitHub personal account is irreversible. GitHub's own documentation says it "cannot restore your content" once the account is deleted, and that repositories, private forks, wikis, issues, pull requests, and GitHub Pages sites owned by the account are deleted along with it. Read GitHub's account-deletion instructions.

This guide separates account deletion from exporting your data, from organization ownership you may still hold, and from content you have contributed to other people's repositories. They have different scopes, and a GitHub request cannot erase a fork, clone, mirror, or copy that already exists outside GitHub's systems.

Last reviewed: August 28, 2026. GitHub can change interface labels and request routes; use the linked first-party pages as the final authority before acting.

Quick answer

To delete GitHub, open Settings → Account, scroll to Delete account, select Delete your account, then enter your username or email and the confirmation phrase GitHub displays. GitHub says the deletion cannot be undone and that your username becomes available for anyone to use after 90 days. Export any data you need first — deletion does not pause for that step.

What to do before deleting GitHub

1. Export your account data if you need a record. GitHub's data-export instructions say to open Settings → Account, find Export account data, and select Start export or New export. GitHub emails a download link to your primary email address; the archive is a `.tar.gz` file and the download link expires after seven days by default.
2. Back up repositories separately. GitHub's deletion page tells users to make a copy of repositories, private forks, wikis, issues, and pull requests before deleting, since the account-data export and a full repository backup are not the same thing.
3. Resolve organization ownership. GitHub's personal account reference says that if you are the only owner of an organization, you must transfer ownership to someone else or delete the organization first; if there are other owners, you must remove yourself from the organization before your personal account can be deleted.
4. Review GitHub Sponsors and billing. GitHub says billing ends immediately on deletion. If you sponsor other accounts or receive sponsorships, review and cancel or transfer those separately through GitHub's current Sponsors settings before deleting, since the deletion documentation does not describe an automatic wind-down for that relationship.
5. Decide what to do about comments and contributions on other people's repositories. GitHub's deletion documentation addresses what happens to content you own, not content you left as a comment, issue, or pull request on someone else's project. Review those separately if their removal matters to you; GitHub's interface, not this guide, determines what can be edited or deleted there.

Export a copy of your GitHub data

1. Open GitHub and sign in.
2. Click your profile picture in the upper-right corner and select Settings.
3. Open Account in the left sidebar.
4. Under Export account data, select Start export (or New export if you have exported before).
5. Wait for GitHub's email with the download link, then follow it and re-enter your password if prompted.

GitHub's documentation says the archive includes your profile data, plan information, and any connected email addresses, along with issues, pull requests, comments, reviews, releases, projects, events, attachments, milestones, and settings for each of your repositories, plus basic information about users who interacted with them. It does not replace a full repository clone if you need the actual code and version history preserved.

Delete your GitHub account

1. Open GitHub and sign in.
2. Click your profile picture and select Settings.
3. Open Account in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll to the Delete account section and select Delete your account.
5. In the confirmation dialog, enter your username or email in the first field.
6. Type the confirmation phrase GitHub displays in the second field.
7. Confirm the deletion.

GitHub's reference documentation says your username becomes available for anyone else to use after 90 days. Treat that as a separate fact from account recovery: GitHub's deletion page does not describe a recovery path for the deleted account itself.

GitHub deletion timelines

What remains after account deletion?

GitHub's own account-deletion documentation states that repositories, private forks, wikis, issues, pull requests, and GitHub Pages sites owned by your account are deleted. It does not state that content you contributed to other people's repositories — a comment, an issue you opened on someone else's project, a pull request merged into another repository, or a commit already merged into someone else's history — is deleted along with your account. Git's distributed design also means that anyone who already cloned, forked, or mirrored a repository holds an independent copy outside GitHub's control.

GitHub's Privacy Statement describes sharing personal information with service providers, affiliates, and certain partners for stated business purposes, while stating that it does not sell personal information. Those are two different claims — "does not sell" is not the same as "does not share" — so do not treat account deletion as a guarantee that every downstream copy or previously shared record has been removed.

Privacy requests and contact routes

GitHub's current Privacy Statement lists privacy@github.com for general privacy inquiries and data-subject rights requests, and dpo@github.com for its Data Protection Officer. It also lists corporate addresses for GitHub, Inc. (San Francisco, California) and GitHub B.V. (Amsterdam, Netherlands). Use the current version of that page for the exact request process, since regional rights and required verification can differ by where you live.

These contact routes are separate from account deletion in the product interface. Use the in-product deletion flow for closing the account itself, and the privacy-request routes for a rights request that the interface does not otherwise expose.

Frequently asked questions

Can I recover a deleted GitHub account?

GitHub's account-deletion documentation says it cannot restore your content once the account is deleted and does not describe a recovery path. Export any data or back up any repositories you need before confirming deletion.

Does deleting my GitHub account delete my comments on other people's repositories?

GitHub's deletion documentation describes what happens to content you own — your repositories, forks, wikis, issues, and pull requests. It does not state that a comment, issue, or pull request you left on someone else's repository is deleted along with your account.

How long until my GitHub username is available again?

GitHub's personal account reference says a deleted account's username becomes available for anyone to use after 90 days.

How long does a GitHub data export take?

GitHub does not publish a fixed preparation time on the export page in the material reviewed for this guide; it emails a download link once the archive is ready, and that link expires after seven days by default. Request a new export if the link expires first.

Do I need to leave my organizations before deleting my account?

Yes, if you are the sole owner of an organization, GitHub says you must transfer ownership or delete the organization first. If other owners exist, you must remove yourself from the organization before the personal account can be deleted.

Will deleting GitHub remove my code from forks or clones other people made?

No. Deleting your account addresses repositories and content you own on GitHub. It does not reach a fork, clone, or mirror that another person or service already created, since those are independent copies outside GitHub's systems.

Will deleting my GitHub account remove my data from data brokers?

No. GitHub's account and privacy tools apply to GitHub's own systems. Separate data brokers, people-search sites, and archives operate independent databases and have their own request processes.

Sources and review boundary

This guide uses GitHub's current account-deletion instructions, personal account reference, data-export instructions, and Privacy Statement. The sources are linked inline so readers can check the live provider instructions. OfflistMe does not claim to submit, monitor, or guarantee a GitHub request on the reader's behalf.

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