Quick answer
Cancel your subscription first, through Match or through Apple or Google if you subscribed in the app. Then go to Settings > Manage Account > Delete account and follow the prompts. Match keeps the account in a three-month holding period before stripping your personal data, and your recovery email stays linked to it.
Step 1: Cancel your subscription
Deleting your account doesn't automatically stop billing. Cancel your subscription first. If you subscribed through the iPhone or Android app, cancel through your Apple or Google account subscriptions instead.
Step 2: Delete your account
On a computer or phone browser:
- Sign in and click the Settings gear.
- With Manage Account selected, click Delete account.
- Follow the link in the pop-up, then click Delete my account.
In the iPhone app: tap your profile icon, then the Settings gear, scroll to Manage Account, tap Delete Account, follow the link, and tap Delete my account.
What happens next
- Your profile is removed from view right away.
- Match keeps the account in a three-month retention period, then strips your personal data.
- Your recovery email stays attached to the old profile, so you'll need a different email to sign up again.
- Deletion requests can fail. Try signing in after about three months, and if the account is still there, delete it again.
Match doesn't offer deactivation. Hiding your profile only keeps it out of search results.
Your legal right to deletion
If you live in a state with a consumer privacy law, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, or Oregon, Match generally has to honor your deletion request and respond within the deadline your state sets. See what your state's law requires.
Match is probably not the only one
Most people have dozens of companies holding their information, from old shopping accounts to apps they've forgotten. DataTrail scans your inbox (read-only) to find them all, flags the ones with data breaches, and writes the deletion requests for you.
Become a testerSources: IDStrong guide to deleting a Match account. DataTrail isn't affiliated with Match. Menus and policies change; if a step looks different, check Match's help center. This guide is general information, not legal advice.