In-App Account Deletion: What Apple and Google Play Require

If people can sign up in your app, both stores make you let them leave. Apple’s guideline 5.1.1(v) says an app that supports account creation “must also offer account deletion within the app,” and Google Play requires an in-app deletion path plus a web page where users can request deletion without reinstalling, with that URL entered in Play Console. On both stores, deactivating or freezing the account doesn’t count: you have to delete the account and the data tied to it. The details differ, which matters when you build one flow for both.

Everything below comes from Apple’s and Google’s own pages as of October 2026.

The short version

	Apple App Store	Google Play
Rule	App Review Guideline 5.1.1(v)	User Data policy, Account Deletion Requirement
Who’s in scope	Apps that support account creation, including auto-created “guest” accounts	Apps that let users create an account, even if signup happens outside the app
In-app path	Required. Users must be able to start deletion in the app	Required. A “readily discoverable option” in the app
Web path	Allowed for finishing deletion, if the in-app link goes straight to it	Required. A web resource that works without the app, entered in Play Console
Deactivation only	”Insufficient"	"Does not qualify as account deletion”
Email or phone only	Not allowed outside highly regulated industries	Email is an accepted request method on the web resource
Delayed deletion	Fine, if you say how long and confirm when done	Fine, within “a reasonably quick period”
Data you must keep	Tell people what you keep	Disclose your retention practices, for example in your privacy policy
Extra	Sign in with Apple token revocation; subscription warning	Data safety form questions about deletion

What Apple requires

The guideline itself is one sentence: “If your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app.” The detail is on Apple’s support page, Offering account deletion in your app:

Start it in the app. Apps “must also let people initiate deletion of their account within the app.” Apple says to make the option easy to find, “typically” in account settings.
Delete the whole account. “Offer to delete the entire account record, along with associated personal data.” You can offer other options too, “but only offering to temporarily deactivate or disable an account is insufficient.”
A web handoff is fine. If people have to finish on your website, “include a link directly to the page on your website where they can complete the process.” On tvOS, a static URL or QR code is acceptable.
No support-ticket flows. Apps outside the highly regulated industries in guideline 5.1.1(ix) “should not require people to make a phone call, send an email, use a chat support flow, or go through other support flows.” That list covers fields like banking and financial services, healthcare, gambling, air travel, and crypto exchanges. Those apps may use extra customer service steps to confirm deletion.
Confirmation is allowed, obstacles aren’t. You can confirm intent and verify identity, for example with a code sent to the email or phone already on the account. But “apps that make it unnecessarily difficult for someone to delete their account will not pass review.”
It doesn’t have to be instant. A manual or asynchronous process is acceptable. “Inform the person how long it will take to delete the account and provide a confirmation when the deletion is complete.”
User content goes too. Apple says people expect deletion to include content “shared with others, such as photos, videos, text posts, and reviews.” If the law requires you to keep some data, tell people.
Everyone gets it. Deletion isn’t just for users covered by GDPR or CCPA. “Everyone should be able to delete their accounts, regardless of where they’re located.”

Subscriptions

Deleting an account doesn’t cancel an App Store subscription. Apple asks you to warn people with an auto-renewable subscription “that billing will continue through Apple and ask them to cancel their subscription before continuing.” You can show the system screen with showManageSubscriptions (iOS 15 and later) or link to https://apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions/. You may offer to schedule deletion for when the subscription expires, “as long as there’s also an option to delete the account immediately.”

If you support Sign in with Apple, Apple says you “should use the Sign in with Apple REST API to revoke user tokens” when the account is deleted. It’s a server call: POST https://appleid.apple.com/auth/revoke with form data containing your client_id, a client_secret (the signed JWT you already use for token exchange), the user’s refresh or access token, and an optional token_type_hint. Store the refresh token at sign-in so you have something to revoke later.

Guideline 5.1.1(v) also requires that apps with social login “include a mechanism to revoke social network credentials and disable data access between the app and social network from within the app.” If you offer Google or Facebook sign-in, disconnecting those belongs in the same settings screen.

What Google Play requires

Google’s rule is in the User Data policy, with the details on its account deletion requirements page. The policy says “users must have a readily discoverable option to initiate app account deletion from within your app and outside of your app.”

In the app: a prominent path, such as in account settings. Google calls a fully in-app flow ideal, but says “you can choose to provide a link within your app that takes users to your app account deletion web resource.”

On the web: this is the part Apple doesn’t have. Google wants a web resource where users can request deletion even if they’ve uninstalled the app or can’t get into it. Per Google, it must:

be functional, meaning it loads without error;
be relevant to your app or developer name as they appear on your store listing;
let users request deletion without sending them back to the app or making them reinstall it;
clearly outline any steps users must take first, such as canceling a subscription.

The request method can be a deletion link, a customer service email address, or a form. Google says an existing privacy policy works if the deletion section is easy to find, “such as through an anchor link.” “A link to this web resource must be entered in the designated URL form field within Play Console.”

Data, not just the account: “You must also delete the user data associated with that app account,” and Google says to ask your service providers to delete it too. You can also show users whether you delete other data. “Temporary account deactivation, disabling, or ‘freezing’ the app account does not qualify as account deletion.”

Retention: If you keep some data for security, fraud prevention, or regulatory compliance, “you must clearly inform users about your data retention practices,” for example in your privacy policy.

Scope: Apps where users can create an account are in scope, even if the account is created outside the app and even if most features work without one. Google exempts “permanently private and enterprise device management apps,” and says accounts “created and operated offline” aren’t app accounts. Non-mobile apps don’t need an in-app option but still need the web resource.

The Data safety form

Deletion also shows up in the Data safety form. Every developer has to answer its Data deletion questions, and apps in scope also enter the web URL there. The security section asks “Does your app provide a way for users to request deletion of their data?” Keep those answers consistent with your privacy policy. Our Apple privacy labels vs Google Play Data safety post walks through the rest of the form.

What reviewers actually check

Neither store publishes a reviewer script, so this is what the written rules make easy to check.

On Apple, the reviewer logs in with your demo account, so the deletion flow is reachable during review. Things that are easy to spot:

No delete option anywhere in settings. The most common version is signup in the app, deletion “by emailing support.”
A deactivate or “pause” toggle presented as the only option.
A web link that lands on a homepage or help center instead of the deletion page.
A flow that dead-ends, such as a form that asks for a support ticket number, or a phone call for a non-regulated app.
A broken demo account. If the reviewer can’t sign in, they can’t find your deletion flow either. Our App Store rejections guide covers 2.1 and 5.1.1(v) rejections and how to reply.

If the reviewer runs the deletion, your demo account is gone, so say in the review notes that deleting it is fine, or recreate it before the next submission.

On Google Play, the clearest checks are the web URL and the Data safety answers:

the URL loads without errors and isn’t behind a login that requires the app;
the page names the same app or developer that’s on your store listing;
the page explains how to request deletion, not just that deletion exists;
your Data safety answers say what you delete and what you keep, and match the page.

If you’re a new personal account, all of this has to be in place before your closed test, since the Data safety form is required for closed tracks too. See Google Play’s 12 testers, 14 days rule.

Implementation checklist

The UI is the easy part; the work is on the server.

Put “Delete account” in account settings on both platforms, behind a confirmation screen. Re-authentication or a one-time code is fine; extra hurdles aren’t.
Delete on the server, not just the device. Signing the user out and clearing local storage isn’t deletion. The backend has to remove the account record and the personal data tied to it.
Find every copy. That includes your database, file storage (avatars, uploads), search indexes, analytics or CRM tools keyed to the user ID, and email lists. Google says to ask service providers to delete their copies too.
Handle user content. Apple expects content the user shared with others, like posts and reviews, to go as well. Decide whether you delete it or fully anonymize it, and say which.
Revoke tokens. Call Apple’s auth/revoke endpoint for Sign in with Apple users, and disconnect any social logins.
Warn about subscriptions before deletion, and link to the store’s subscription management screen. App Store and Play billing don’t stop because your account record does.
If you use a grace period, say so. A soft-delete window (say, 30 days before a hard delete) fits both stores’ rules if the user knows the timeline and gets a confirmation at the end. Don’t let it become deactivation by another name.
Document what you keep and why. Tax and purchase records, fraud and security logs, anything a regulator requires. List them in your privacy policy’s retention section and in the deletion flow.
Publish the web deletion page with your app name, developer name, the in-app steps, and a way to request deletion without the app (form or email). Put its URL in Play Console.
Test it end to end with a throwaway account.

Using our privacy policy generator for the web page

Our App Privacy Policy Generator has an “Accounts and deletion” step. When you say your app has accounts, the generated policy gets a “How to delete your account” section with the anchor #account-deletion. It names your app and developer, lists the in-app path you enter (the default is “Settings > Account > Delete account”), your web deletion URL if you give one, and an email request method using your contact address. It also states your deletion timeframe (30 days by default, adjustable), what you keep after deletion if you fill that in, and that deactivating isn’t the same as deleting.

Because it includes an email request method that works without the app, that section can serve as Google’s web resource once you host the exported HTML. Use https://yourdomain.com/privacy#account-deletion as the URL in Play Console. The tool flags it as an error if you have accounts but no in-app path, or if you target Android without a web deletion URL. Its store cheat sheet shows the Play deletion answers and URL. It also adds a Sign in with Apple reminder about token revocation when you pick that SDK. It writes the policy text only; it doesn’t build the in-app flow or the backend.

Check it before you submit

Both of our store checklists include account deletion as an item. The App Store submission checklist covers the in-app path, full deletion, and Sign in with Apple revocation. The Google Play publishing checklist covers the in-app path, the web URL in the Data safety form, and the deactivation trap. If you ship on both stores, run both.