When someone you love dies, there are many practical tasks to handle, from arranging their funeral or memorial service to handling your loved one’s affairs. In our modern, online world there is another element to consider when a family member dies: what to do with their social media accounts after death.
In this guide, we’ll outline the options you have, how to make important decisions about someone’s social media account, and how to close or memorialize different types of social media accounts.
Read more: Complete checklist for what to do when someone dies
When someone dies, what happens to their social media accounts?
You might wonder what happens to someone’s social media accounts after death. In most cases, social media companies don’t automatically know someone has died. That means the accounts usually stay online until someone reports the death and asks the platform to make a change. If you don’t do anything, the accounts often remain active and can still show up in searches, memories, or friend suggestions.You’ll need to make the decision of what you’d like to do with their accounts and contact the company to request those changes. If you don’t do anything to close the accounts, they’ll stay open.
Deciding what to do with social media accounts after death
When a loved one dies, you broadly have four paths forward when it comes to their social media presence. There’s no single right answer—the best choice depends on your family’s wishes, privacy concerns, and how you want your loved one to be remembered.
This is part of digital legacy planning: deciding what should happen to someone’s online presence after they die. Those accounts are part of their digital identities (their online profiles, photos, and connections). Here are your options:
- Memorialize account: Keep the profile visible as a tribute, but lock it so no one can log in or make changes. Facebook and Instagram both offer this option.
- Remove the account: Permanently delete the profile and its content. Most major platforms allow immediate family or legal representatives to request this.
- Leave the account active: Do nothing, leaving the profile as it was. This lets friends and family visit, but comes with risks like unexpected notification or unwanted contact. It may be shut down for inactivity.
- Create a dedicated online obituary: Complement or replace social media memorials with a purpose-built tribute page like Everis’ online obituary designed specifically for remembrance.
Modern Remembrance: Interactive Online Obituaries
Social media platforms were built for everyday life, not for grief. An Everis interactive online obituary gives your loved one a permanent, dignified memorial that exists outside of the noise of social feeds and advertising.
Instead it’s:
- A dedicated space for your loved one’s story, photos, videos and life timeline.
- Interactive—friends and family can leave tributes and memories
- Shareable with a single link, just like a social media post
- Permanent and distraction free—no ads no algorithm
- Can be used alongside or instead of social media memorialization
Reasons to leave an account active:
- You keep access to online accounts after death, including the deceased’s photos, videos, and posts
- You can use the account to send messages about the deceased including arrangements for funeral or memorial services
- It provides an opportunity for friends and family members to pay their respects
- Pairing it with an Everis online obituary gives loved ones a dedicated, distraction-free space alongside the social profile
Reasons to close or deactivate an account:
- To prevent painful memories from resurfacing unexpectedly in feeds or notifications
- To reduce the risk of identity theft or impersonation—scammers sometimes target the profiles of the deceased
- To stop unwanted contact from people who may not know the person has died
- To give the family a sense of closure and control over their loved one’s digital presence
Quick tip: If you decide to close an account but want to keep photos and videos, download them before making the request. Once an account is deleted, its content is typically gone permanently. Most platforms allow you to export this data in their account settings.
What you need when closing social media accounts after a death
Every social media platform has its own process for closing a social media account after death. However, you’ll usually need four main things to gain access to online accounts after death:
1. The name of the person who’s died
2. Their profile name, ID, or link
3. Proof of death (e.g., death certificate)
4. Proof of your relationship to them (e.g., a birth certificate or marriage license showing your relationship)
Quick tip: If you can, gather the exact username, a link to the profile, and a clear copy of proof of death (like an obituary link or death certificate). If you’re requesting deletion instead of memorialization, platforms may also ask for proof you’re immediate family or have legal authority (like an executor).
Below you can find more detailed instructions for individual social media platforms.
How to remove a deceased person from social media platforms when they die
When closing social media accounts after death, you’ll need to follow the specific instructions for each platform. We’ve listed the major social media platforms and what you’ll need to do below.
Facebook gives you the option to either memorialize or delete a Facebook account when someone dies.
Memorializing an account means that it still exists for people to visit, however, no one can log in to the account. The profile also won’t show up in public places, such as under “People you may know” or in birthday reminders. Depending on the account settings, people may be able to post on the timeline of the memorialized account.
To request the memorialization of a Facebook account for someone who’s died, you’ll need to submit a form to Facebook. You can do that here.
Alternatively, you can ask for an account to be deleted. Again, you’ll need to submit a form through Facebook, which you can find here.
Instagram lets you either memorialize or delete an account after someone dies. If you want step-by-step instructions (plus what memorialization changes and what documents you may need), jump to the section below: “What to do with an Instagram account when someone dies?” Then use Instagram’s official forms to submit a memorialization request or a deletion request.
You can submit a request to memorialize an Instagram account here. You can submit a request to delete the Instagram account of someone who’s died here.
X (Formerly Twitter)
X doesn’t have a memorialization option, but you can ask them to deactivate the account. You’ll need to submit a form and say how you’re connected to the person who’s died. You can fill out the form here.
Snapchat
Snapchat gives you the option to deactivate someone’s account when they die. You can do this through their support page. You’ll need to provide a copy of the death certificate so they can verify that the person died. You can submit a request to deactivate an account here. Under “What is your concern with this account?,” select “The person passed away” and fill out the fields underneath.
Pinterest doesn’t have an official form for deactivating accounts. However, you can ask them to delete the account by emailing Pinterest with the person’s account details and proof of their death.
Send an email to care@pinterest.com and include:
– Your name
– The name of the person who’s died
– The email address they used for their Pinterest account
– A link to their Pinterest account
– Proof of death, such as a death certificate or obituary
– Proof of your relationship to the person, e.g., marriage certificate or a public mention of your relationship
LinkedIn has three options for when someone’s died. Their account can be deactivated or memorialized, or their profile can be hidden. If you’re authorized to act on behalf of the deceased, for example, you’re a family member, then you can request deactivation or memorialization via this link.
Alternatively, someone who isn’t authorized to act on their behalf can report them as deceased, which won’t remove their account but will hide their profile.
TikTok
Currently, the only way to close someone’s TikTok account when they die is if you have access to their account, meaning you’ll need their login and password information. You can then delete the account via the normal channels. Unfortunately, at the moment there are no other options to close or memorialize someone’s TikTok account.
Everis Online Obituary
Rather than navigating multiple platforms, create a single, beautiful memorial page where all friends and family can gather. Shareable, interactive, and built for remembrance. Create a tribute
How to memorialize a Facebook account
Facebook allows you to memorialize an account after someone’s died, adding “Remembering” before their profile name. This gives you another option besides closing the account or keeping it open. It’s easy to request this change in status. You can do so by going here and filling out the form.
What to do with an Instagram account when someone dies?
For Instagram, you usually have two practical choices: Memorialize account or request Account removal. A third option is to do nothing and leave the account as-is, but that can create surprises later (like the profile showing up in recommendations or people messaging the account).
Memorializing an Instagram account
Memorializing an Instagram account turns the profile into a tribute page. The account can stay visible, but it becomes locked so no one can log in or change it.
Here’s what typically happens after memorialization:
- The word “Remembering” may appear on the profile.
- The account is locked (no one can log in).
- Existing posts stay visible to the audience they were originally shared with.
- No one can add new posts from that account.
- The account may not appear in certain public recommendations (like Explore or suggested users).
- Direct messages can’t be accessed because nobody can log in.
What you’ll need to request memorialization
To request memorialization, you’ll generally need:
- The person’s full name and Instagram username
- Proof of death (for example, an obituary link, death certificate, or a news article)
Instagram reviews the request and decides whether to memorialize the account.
Alternative: Account removal–permanent deletion
If your family prefers to remove the account completely, you can request account removal instead of memorialization. This permanently deletes the profile and content.
For deletion requests, platforms often require proof of death and proof of your immediate family or the executor/personal representative.
Identity theft note and why you may want to act quickly
After a death, identity theft can still happen. Scammers sometimes impersonate the person, create lookalike profiles, or message friends and family. Memorializing or removing the account can reduce the risk of misuse and confusion.
Should you post on social media when someone dies?
Announcing a death on social media can be a practical way to reach many people at once. However, you should make sure that all close family and friends have been told about someone’s death in person or over the phone before posting about it on social media.
An Everis online obituary can work well alongside a social media post: share the obituary link in your post so that friends and extended family have a single, dedicated place to read your loved one’s full story, leave tributes, and find information about memorial services—all without the distractions of a social feed.
Creating a “digital will” before you die
Before you die, you can leave instructions for what will happen to your digital footprint, such as social media accounts. You can request whether you’d like family to close or memorialize your accounts. You can also download all your online data, such as photos and videos, and leave them for your family on a hard drive or on the Cloud.
You can think of this as digital legacy planning. The simplest approach is to list your major digital identities, decide whether you want each one memorialized or removed, and store those wishes somewhere your executor can find. If you use Facebook, choosing a legacy contact can also help your family manage parts of a memorialized profile without sharing passwords.
If your family member didn’t leave any specific instructions, then it’s up to you to decide how you’d like to manage their digital footprint.Although making decisions when someone dies can be time consuming, it’s also important to process your own grief. Learn how to deal with grief in a healthy way as you navigate the emotions that might come up for you and make sure to take time to allow for grief and healing.
