How to delete your GitHub account
GitHub is the largest software development and code hosting platform with over 100 million developers, owned by Microsoft since 2018. GitHub stores all your repositories, commit history, issues, pull requests, comments, the contents of every commit's diff, your followers and stars, every webhook URL you've ever registered, and the email addresses associated with your commits (which leak into commit metadata of even private repos that get pushed to public forks).
Delete your GitHub account, step by step
- 1Go to github.com/settings/admin while logged in
- 2Scroll to the 'Delete account' section
- 3Click 'Delete your account'
- 4Read every warning — your username, repos, gists, and ghost-attributed history are about to disappear
- 5Type the confirmation phrase exactly as shown
- 6Re-enter your password or pass your 2FA challenge
- 7Click 'Delete this account' — deletion happens immediately
What actually happens when you delete
Gets removed
- ✓Your username (held for 90 days, then becomes available)
- ✓All personal repositories, gists, and project boards you own
- ✓Profile, bio, avatar, followers, and starred repos
- ✓Issues and pull requests you opened — attributed to 'ghost'
- ✓GitHub Sponsors profile and pending sponsorships
Stays behind
- ✗Forks others made of your public repos continue to exist
- ✗Commits you made to OTHER repos remain (re-attributed to 'ghost' if email-tied)
- ✗Comments and code reviews you wrote on other people's repos (attributed to 'ghost')
- ✗Your email may remain visible in commit history of forks unless you used the GitHub no-reply email
- ✗Records Microsoft/GitHub retain for billing, fraud, and legal compliance
Before you delete
Deletion is INSTANT and irreversible — there is no grace period. If anyone depends on your public repos (npm packages, deployed apps, embedded gists, blog posts linking to gists), transfer ownership to an organization or another user FIRST. Your contribution graph and commit history on OTHER people's repos remain but get re-attributed to a 'ghost' user, breaking blame/history.
Download your data from GitHub first
Most platforms only honor a data-export request while the account is still active. Do this before you delete.
- 1Go to github.com/settings/admin
- 2Find the 'Export account data' section near the top
- 3Click 'Start export'
- 4GitHub builds a ZIP including your repos, issues, PRs, and metadata
- 5Email arrives in a few hours to a day with a download link (link expires after 7 days)
Want to take a break instead? Deactivate
Deactivation hides your profile without permanently destroying it. Logging back in restores everything.
- 1GitHub doesn't have a separate deactivation. Closest equivalent: set all repos to private and remove your bio/profile photo without deleting. Or transfer ownership of valuable repos to an organization first, then delete the user account.
If deletion fails — or you live in the EU, UK, or California
You have a legal right to request erasure of your personal data under GDPR (EU/UK) and CCPA (California). Use these official channels if the self-service flow doesn't work.
GitHub deletion FAQs
What happens to my repositories when I delete my GitHub account?+
All repos you own personally are deleted immediately. Forks others made remain — they're independent copies. If you own important repos, transfer them to an organization or another user via Settings > Transfer ownership BEFORE deleting.
Will deleting my GitHub account remove my commits from other people's repos?+
No. The commits stay (they're part of the project's history), but the author name is replaced with 'ghost'. Your email address in those commits will also be retained in the git log itself unless you scrubbed it pre-deletion.
Can someone else take my GitHub username after I delete?+
Yes. GitHub holds the username for around 90 days then releases it. To prevent impersonation, rename to something throwaway (Settings > Change username) before you delete, so the original handle remains parked under a still-active account.
Is GitHub account deletion immediate or is there a grace period?+
Immediate and irreversible. Unlike most major platforms, there is no 30-day cancellation window. Once you confirm, the account and personal repos are gone.
How do I make sure my email isn't in my commit history?+
GitHub provides a no-reply email (yourname@users.noreply.github.com) you can use as the git commit email. If you've already pushed commits with your real email, you'll have to rewrite history with git rebase or filter-branch and force-push, then ask collaborators to re-clone — this only affects YOUR repos, not forks others made.
What about my GitHub Sponsors or GitHub Pages sites?+
Sponsorships you receive end immediately. Active GitHub Pages sites you own go offline as part of repo deletion. If you sponsor others, those subscriptions are canceled. Settle financials separately via your billing dashboard before deletion.
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