Edit Article

wikiHow to Close Your wikiHow Account

If you've decided that you don't want to participate on wikiHow anymore, you can just log out of your account and never use it again. If you're concerned about your identity being tied to your contributions, though, and want to tie up some loose ends, here are some ways to completely dissociate from the wikiHow account that you created. An account cannot be deleted, but it can be turned completely anonymous, so that the edits made from that account will never be linked to you again.

Steps

  1. 1
    Remember that you are a volunteer at wikiHow, and are under no obligation to edit any article or page. If you are no longer happy at wikiHow, for any reason, all you have to do to quit is stop signing in (as directed above).
  2. 2
    Leave on good terms. If you think you might return someday, or even if you don't, do not say anything mean or nasty to or about anyone. Leave nicely and you will be welcomed back if you ever change your mind. If you leave by being rude, being welcomed back might be hard. Even if you never think of coming back, remember that many people regret having said something harsh in anger.
  3. 3
    Remove your email. Go to your preferences. Click on Notifications and remove any e-mail address associated with your account, or go directly to this link to remove your email. Just leave the new email address area blank.
    • You can also click "disable" next to your "Receive emails from wikiHow" option in order to turn off email notifications, if you don't want to disassociate your email altogether.
  4. 4
    Erase your user page.
  5. 5
    Erase your talk page. Go to the "Talk" tab on your user page, and on the talk page, press "Edit" and erase all the content. You don't need to nominate the page for deletion, though, since it's unlikely that you've put any identifying information on your talk page.
  6. 6
    Change your display name, if it is somehow associated with your identity. Go to preferences and change your real name and nickname. If these fields remain blank, your username (shown in the URL of your profile page) will be used to attribute your work.
  7. 7
    Change your username, if necessary. Again, this is only if the name is somehow linked with your identity, such as if it is your actual name, or it is a username you use on several other websites. To have your username changed, fill out this form or send an email to Anna.
  8. 8
    Log out, and don't log back in again.
  9. 9
    Remove the wikiHow toolbar if you have installed it.

Community Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Submit
    If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know.

    Tips

    • You may need to clear cookies and any remembered login info for wikiHow on your browser.
    • Leave your articles you started, intact. wikiHow is a collaborative site and articles you started can be further developed over time, unless it becomes necessary later down the line to have them deleted for other reasons provided at our deletion Policy page.
    • If you have participated here for awhile and have been a part of the wikiHow community, you might want to post a message on the forum, to say goodbye. If you like, you may briefly explain what led you to quit. If you've gotten to know some other participants here, you may want to post a goodbye message on the talk pages of those you have had the most contact with. But this is entirely up to you.
    • It might be that you just need a wikiHow vacation instead. Feel free to take a break at any time.
    • Never leave just because it is "cool" to quit. Everyone thinks differently, and remember, some people need help.
    • Remember, not everyone has to actually write articles to be a part of the Community. In fact, it is better not to write an article unless you first do a thorough search of wikiHow to find out whether we have your topic covered. If we have the topic covered already, please do not create a duplicate, as this will only be deleted.
    • Before actually joining, log in without creating an account, and check out the site. Read the Community Portal and click on the links to find out more about wikiHow. If you think you might enjoy becoming a member of the Community, then join wikiHow and be welcomed to the Community.

    Warnings

    • If you do all of the above and forget your password, it's unlikely you will ever be able to log into the account again. If you want to leave that option open, don't erase your e-mail address in your preferences. Having an e-mail address there will allow you to reset your password.
    • In an attempt to quit you decide that it's easier just to have your account blocked, don't try. Your unconstructive edits will ruin wikiHow for the millions of other people who visit and in order to get an infinite block it requires lots of problematic edits which is looked down upon.

    Article Info

    Categories: Your wikiHow Account

    In other languages:

    Español: cerrar tu cuenta wikiHow

    Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 17,492 times.

    Did this article help you?
     
http://www.wikihow.com/Close-Your-wikiHow-Account
www.wikihow.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-26
162119
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:N64D6XHM5KYIVOVE72PFULIMR3WDJOML
<urn:uuid:baecc7c3-f4ec-4051-9cfd-51649458ee66>
2017-06-24T10:35:37Z
151.101.33.175
application/xhtml+xml
sha1:W352OJNPGNYETYHC37C3MVEMCNLAYBVZ
<urn:uuid:75ac2fc2-4dcd-4af6-ac2b-1a4c043e9335>
http://www.wikihow.com/Close-Your-wikiHow-Account
response
<urn:uuid:d5f876a8-a034-4390-b5f6-c5ca7528354b>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-178-111-167.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-26
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for June 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf