(Reclaim The Net) Payments company PayPal’s threat to expand its speech restrictions(which it later claimed was an “error” after facing mass pushback) and its growing levels of censorship have led to many people deciding to cut ties with the company and delete their PayPal accounts.
Follow these steps to delete your PayPal account.
Preparing to delete your PayPal account
Before you delete your PayPal account, you’ll need to make sure you’ve withdrawn your money, canceled or redirected any pending payments, and downloaded a copy of all the records you need.
1. Withdraw your funds
PayPal offers both “Instant” withdrawals (which usually complete within minutes) and “Standard” withdrawals (which can take up to three business days). It may also apply fees to some withdrawal methods. You can avoid fees and get the fastest withdrawal by choosing a withdrawal option that’s listed as “Instant (free).”
To withdraw from your PayPal account:
1a. If you’re using the PayPal website, click or tap “Transfer money.”
1b. If you’re using the PayPal app or the PayPal Business app, tap on your balance and select “Transfer Money or “Withdraw Money.”
2. Select the bank account or card to which you want to withdraw.
3. Enter your entire available PayPal balance as the amount you want to withdraw.
4. Confirm the withdrawal by clicking or tapping “Transfer [amount] Now” or “Transfer Now.”
2. Cancel or redirect any pending payments
If you currently have pending payments going to or from your PayPal account, you’ll need to cancel or redirect these payments.
The exact process will depend on how you currently use your PayPal account but it will generally involve reviewing all of the incoming and outgoing payments, deciding which payments to cancel, and deciding which payments to redirect.
Some of the incoming payments you may want to review include individual payments (such as one-time payments from your contacts) and recurring payments (such as affiliate commissions or subscription payments for any products or services that you sell).
Some of the outgoing payments you may want to review include individual payments (such as payments to your contacts or one-time payments for products or services) and recurring payments (such as subscriptions to streaming services).
Reviewing your recurring payments
You can review some of your recurring payments on PayPal’s pre-approved payments pages on the PayPal website and in the PayPal app.
To review pre-approved payments for a personal PayPal account on the PayPal website, click or tap the settings cog and select “Payments” > “Manage automatic payments.”
To review pre-approved payments for a personal PayPal account in the PayPal app, tap “Wallet” > “Automatic payments.”
To review outgoing pre-approved payments for a PayPal Business account on the PayPal website, open your account settings and select “Money, banks and cards” > “Manage pre-approved payments.”
To review incoming pre-approved payments for a PayPal Business account on the PayPal website, open your account settings, select “Website payments,” and click or tap “Update” in the “My Pre-approved Payments” section.
Reviewing your other payments
You can review other payments to and from your PayPal account by browsing your transaction history.
The PayPal website and PayPal app contain a full log of your transaction history while the PayPal Business app provides a limited log of your previous transactions.
To browse the transaction history for any PayPal account on the PayPal website, click or tap “Activity.”
To browse the transaction history for a personal account in the PayPal app, tap the “Show all” link in the “Recent activity” section.
To browse the transaction history for a PayPal Business account in the PayPal Business app, tap the “View all” link in the “Activity” section.
Canceling payments
To cancel an outgoing recurring payment on the PayPal website, click or tap on the payment and select “Cancel.”
