Our previous tutorials have taught you how to delete a WhatsApp account, as well as your Facebook and Instagram account, along with any underlying user data. But we understand that not everyone is a fan of Facebook-owned services.
For instance, some people prefer Viber for their instant messaging needs. Those pondering leaving Viber might be wondering if they can deactivate their account and delete their data.
In a word, yes. In this tutorial, we’ll tell you everything there’s to know pertaining to deleting a Viber account, guide you through the account deactivation process and inform you what happens to your data after the account is killed.
Deleting Viber vs deactivating account
Keep in mind that simply removing the Viber app from your device is not the same as deactivating your account. But if you do delete the Viber app, the following will happen:
- Your Viber address book gets removed from the servers after 45 days.
- Your phone number, which is your Viber account number, will be decoupled from the service after one year of inactivity.
To instantly deactivate your Viber account, follow the steps outlined further below.
Deactivation of a Viber account can only take place within the application itself. If you have already uninstalled Viber and would like to deactivate your account, you will need to re-install Viber in order to do so.
Ensure that you have the latest version of Viber for iOS or Viber for Mac prior to deactivating your account.
What happens after I deactivate my Viber account?
This is what happens after you deactivate a Viber account on your device:
- All of your data is cleared on this device, including your call and message history, groups and downloaded stickers, both free and purchased.
- You will no longer appear as a Viber user to your Viber contacts.
- All other accounts linked to your Viber account, like Twitter, Facebook and so forth, will be unlinked from the service.
- Any purchased Viber Out credit will remain on this account, but you can contact Viber support via email and request a credit transfer to a new Viber account.
- When you deactivate Viber on your primary device (the one on which you registered with the service), the app will be deactivated on all other devices.
IMPORTANT: Once your account is deactivated, there is no way to restore any of your user data. Viber does not store any of your message history and is unable to retrieve lost data. Re-registering to Viber with the same mobile phone number will not restore the previous account history.
Having said that, it might be a good idea to create a backup of your Viber chats for safekeeping prior to deactivating your account.
How to back up your Viber chats
In order to create a full backup of your chat history prior to deleting your Viber account, follow the steps outlined right below:
Step 1: Launch Viber on your iPhone.
Step 2: Tap on More in the tab area alongside the bottom.
Step 3: Select Settings to access options.
Step 4: Choose Calls and Messages.
Step 5: Select Email message history.
This will bring up the mail compose sheet. Type in your own email address in the TO: field and tap Send to send yourself the attached ZIP file containing Viber’s message history.
IMPORTANT: Your backed up history is provided for your convenience and cannot be restored onto this or another device. Messaging history backup is available on Android and iPhone only.
How to deactivate your Viber account on mobile
Step 1: Launch Viber on your iPhone.
Step 2: Tap on More in the tab area alongside the bottom.
Step 3: Select Settings to access options.
Step 4: Choose Privacy.
Step 5: Select Deactivate Account.
You will be warned that continuing with the deactivation process will clear all of your data on this device and deactivate Viber on all your other devices.
Step 6: Tap Deactivate to proceed.
You can now delete the Viber app from this device.
How to deactivate your Viber account on desktop
Step 1: Launch Viber on your Mac, Windows or Linux PC.
Step 2: Choose Preferences in the Viber menu (Mac) or click the settings icon at the bottom left of the screen (Windows/Linux).
Step 3: A new window will pop up. Choose the Account tab to continue.
Step 4: Now select Deactivate Viber.
Step 5: If you are sure that you would like to proceed, choose Deactivate.
This will remove all of your data and deactivate Viber from your desktop only.
You can now drag the Viber app from your Mac’s Applications folder into the Trash. Viber will remain active on your primary device (your iPhone) so you’ll need to deactivate the app there, too.
How to reactive your Viber account
Step 1: Download and launch Viber on your iPhone.
Step 2: Follow the on-screen instructions to re-register your mobile phone number with the service. This will reinstate the previous account on your new device. Your message and call history will not be restored.
Recommended tutorials
You might appreciate these tutorials and resources:
- How to delete your WhatsApp account
- How to delete your Facebook account
- How to delete your Instagram account
- How to delete your Snapchat account or change your username
- How to deactivate your Apple ID account
- How to remove a child account from iCloud Family Sharing
- How to remove a phone number from iMessage
Submit your feedback and tutorial ideas at tips@iDownloadBlog.com.