How to Delete a Tweet

Newsflash! Stuff posted to the Internet is there forever! It’s safe to say that most, if not all, have posted something to the Internet that they ultimately regretted. Maybe it’s a cringe-worthy status update, a joke told in bad taste on Twitter or accidentally liking a really old Instagram photo.

The nature of Twitter encourages “stream of consciousness” posts. The social media platform encourages people to post every and any thought that runs through their head as soon as they dream it up. As you might imagine, this has the potential to be very dangerous. Case in point, the scandals surrounding tweets sent out by celebrities and other public figures. Fortunately, if you think that you may have some questionable past Tweets, there are ways you can delete them. If you want to say sayonara to some of your more unscrupulous tweets, this guide is for you.

Delete a Tweet Manually

Scrubbing your Twitter handle of a tweet is super simple. All you need to do is log in to your Twitter account and navigate to your profile. If you are on a mobile device, tapping on your circular profile icon will make a pop out menu appear. From there tap on the option labeled “Profile.”

Now, all you need to do is locate the tweet you want to scrub from your profile. Once you find the tweet in question, tap it to open it. Next, tap on the down arrow icon in the upper-right corner of the tweet. This will open a pop up window. Tap on “Delete Tweet,” confirm your decision, and presto, the tweet is deleted from your profile.

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If you want to use the desktop version of Twitter to delete a tweet, the process is exactly the same as it is on mobile devices. Just be aware that the layout of the web browser version of Twitter is slightly different from mobile.

How to Delete Multiple Tweets

Unfortunately, Twitter does not give users the option to bulk delete tweets. This means that you’re stuck sifting through all of your old tweets in order to locate any potentially embarrassing ones. Once you identify ones that you’d like to remove, you have to follow the steps outlined above for each and every one.

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If that sounds like a particularly daunting task, you have a few options. First, you can always get a fresh start on your Twitter account without losing your handle.

To do so, simply create a new account with a temporary handle. Then switch the handle of your old account with the new dummy account you just created. To do so, just navigate to your account profile and select “Settings and privacy.” In this menu select “Account,” and simply update the username field.

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Alternatively, you can utilize the services of a third party to bulk delete your tweets. TweetDelete is a popular free option, although there are some limitations. If you’re willing to shell out some cash for more control, the similarly-named TweetDeleter and TweetEraser might be what you’re looking for.

How to Remove a Retweet

To remove a retweet from your profile, follow the steps outlined above to access your profile. Find the retweet you would like to remove. Retweets can be quickly identified by looking for the highlighted retweet icon (two arrows following each other). To undo your retweet, all you need to do is tap/click on the highlighted retweet icon. This will un-highlight the retweet icon, signifying that it has been removed from your profile and everyone else’s Twitter feed.

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Be aware that if you have copied someone else’s tweet and pasted it to your Twitter profile, it is not classified as a retweet. In order to remove it, you’ll have to follow the steps outlined in the section above.

What Happens to Deleted Tweets

According to Twitter, when you delete a tweet the following occurs:
•The tweet is removed from your account.
•It is also removed from the timeline of any accounts that follow you.
•The deleted tweet no longer appears in Twitter search results on twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, or Twitter for Android.
•Finally, any retweets of the deleted tweet will also be removed on twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, and Twitter for Android.

There are a few exceptions that could cause your deleted tweet to live on, such as the following scenarios:
•If other people have copied and pasted part or all of your text into their own tweet, their tweets will not be removed.
•If another user retweeted your tweet with a comment of their own, their tweets will not be removed.
•Furthermore, Twitter makes it clear that they may not have ultimate control over your tweets. They provide this warning on their website: “Tweets may be cached or cross-posted on third-party websites, applications, or search engines. We cannot remove tweets that are not on twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, or Twitter for Android.”

Have you ever felt compelled to delete a tweet? How did you go about doing it? Let us know in the comments!