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To permanently delete a Nintendo Account, sign in at accounts.nintendo.com, open Privacy and Other Settings, select Delete account, complete Nintendo’s identity verification, and confirm with Delete.
Deletion is not immediate: Nintendo places the account in a pending-deletion period of about 30 days. During that time, you may be able to reactivate it. After the period ends, Nintendo says the account cannot be restored. Deleting it can also remove digital purchases, linked save data, in-app content, coins, My Nintendo points and rewards, and account-specific discounts.
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Before deleting your Nintendo Account
Account deletion is different from deleting a local Switch user, leaving a family group, canceling Nintendo Switch Online, or changing account details. If you only want to solve one of those problems, deletion is probably unnecessary.
- Digital purchases: Nintendo says digital games and other content purchased or redeemed through the account may be lost. Do not assume a new account will inherit the old account’s library.
- Save data and game information: Nintendo lists save data from apps linked to the account among the data that may be lost. Do not assume console-local or cloud-backed data will survive.
- My Nintendo: Missions, points, rewards, discounts, and other account-specific benefits may be removed.
- Family group: Check whether the account is a parent, guardian, family-group administrator, or manager of child accounts. The consequences can vary by region, age, supervision status, and administrator role.
- Subscriptions and payments: Review Nintendo Switch Online and any recurring arrangements separately. Do not assume account deletion automatically handles every billing arrangement.
- Access and records: Make sure you can complete verification. If useful, record purchase history, account details, friend information, points, and game-specific settings before submitting the request.
Verify the email address, nickname, and family-group role shown on the Nintendo Account website before continuing. Nintendo’s official guidance also recommends changing account settings instead of deleting the account when the issue is an incorrect email address, nickname, country/region, or linked account: Nintendo’s deletion instructions.
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How to delete a standard Nintendo Account
- Open the Nintendo Account website.
- Sign in to the account you want to delete.
- Confirm that the intended email address and account are shown.
- Select Privacy and Other Settings.
- Scroll to the bottom and select Delete account.
- Read Nintendo’s warnings, then select Confirm and Proceed.
- Complete the requested identity verification. Depending on your account, Nintendo may request your password, passkey, email code, phone code, two-step-verification code, or backup code.
- Select Delete to submit the request.
- Record the date you submitted the request. Treat the following 30 days as the recovery period, and do not sign in again unless you want to reactivate the account.
The labels can vary slightly by country or after a website redesign, but Nintendo’s current support flow uses Privacy and Other Settings → Delete account. This process is performed online; it is not a normal option in the Switch console settings. See the Nintendo US support instructions for the account-deletion warnings.
How to delete a child Nintendo Account
A child account normally must be deleted by its parent or guardian. The parent or guardian should:
- Sign in to the parent or guardian Nintendo Account.
- Select Family Group.
- Select the child account.
- Scroll to the bottom and choose Delete Child Account.
- Read the warnings and select Confirm and Proceed.
- Complete identity verification and select Delete.
Child-account rules can differ according to country, age, parental-consent status, and supervision. Do not treat every supervised account as identical. If the goal is to change supervision or family membership, inspect Nintendo’s family-group options before deleting an account.
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What happens to family-group members?
Nintendo says deleting a parent or guardian who manages child accounts can also affect or delete those managed accounts. Its US and UK support material describes family-group consequences differently depending on the administrator’s role and the ages of other members. Nintendo’s UK guidance says members aged 16 or older are not deleted when a family-group administrator deletes their account, but they are disconnected from the group. The US guidance distinguishes whether the deleted parent or guardian is the family-group administrator.
Before submitting deletion, open Family Group and review child, supervised, and administrator relationships. For the relevant US guidance, see Nintendo’s Nintendo Account FAQ.
What happens after you request deletion?
Nintendo does not normally erase the account immediately. It holds the account in a pending-deletion state for approximately 30 days. Nintendo’s US FAQ sometimes says “four weeks,” while its deletion and reactivation pages use “30 days”; use 30 days as the practical deadline.
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During this period, the account may be reactivated, although Nintendo warns that it cannot guarantee every item or piece of data will be restored. Once the pending period ends, Nintendo says the account is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. Associated digital content, funds, and linked account data cannot be recovered after that deadline.
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Deleting a Nintendo Account does not itself delete a Nintendo Network ID or linked third-party accounts such as Google, Apple, or social-network accounts. Those accounts must be managed separately. It also should not be confused with erasing a local user or data from a Switch console.
How to reactivate a Nintendo Account pending deletion
- Go to the Nintendo Account sign-in page.
- Try to sign in to the account that is pending deletion.
- Follow Nintendo’s reactivation prompt if the pending-deletion period has not expired.
- If reactivation is unavailable, check whether more than about 30 days have passed.
Nintendo says an account cannot be restored after permanent deletion, and complete restoration is not guaranteed even during the reactivation window. See Nintendo’s deleted-or-deactivated-account guidance.
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When you should not delete the account
| Your goal | Use this instead |
|---|---|
| Change an email address, nickname, country/region, or linked account | Edit the relevant Nintendo Account settings. |
| Leave a family group | Open Family Group and choose Leave this family group, where available. |
| Remove another member | The family-group administrator can select the member and choose Remove family group member. |
| Stop Nintendo Switch Online | Manage or cancel the membership separately. |
| Remove the account from one console | Manage the console user or console connection separately. |
| Stop promotional emails | Change communication preferences rather than deleting the account. |
| Fix an inaccessible or compromised account | Use account recovery or contact Nintendo Support. |
Leaving a family group does not delete the Nintendo Account, although it can remove access to Nintendo Switch Online family coverage provided through that group. An administrator generally cannot simply leave without first transferring the administrator role. See Nintendo’s family-group removal instructions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Troubleshooting deletion problems
The Delete account option is missing
Check that you are using the Nintendo Account website, not the console settings, and that you are signed in to the intended account. A child account must generally be handled from the parent or guardian’s Family Group settings. Website labels and account-management rules may also vary by region.
Verification does not work
Try the available password, passkey, email, phone, two-step-verification, or backup-code method. If you have lost access to the required verification method, use Nintendo Support rather than relying on unofficial deletion services or workarounds.
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The account is a family-group administrator
Review child and supervised accounts first. Administrator deletion can change family membership and may affect managed child accounts. If you only want to reorganize the group, transfer or adjust family-group management instead.
The deletion was accidental
Attempt to sign in immediately and follow the reactivation prompt. Waiting until the deadline passes removes the recovery option.
You want to reuse the email address
Do not assume when Nintendo will make the address available for a new account. You may need to wait until deletion is complete or contact Nintendo Support if the address remains unavailable.
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