How to Delete All Tweets on Twitter in 3 Easy Steps (With Photos and Alternative Methods)

Do you cringe looking back certain old tweets? Maybe a post from your youth no longer fits your personal brand. Or perhaps you want to present a more professional image as your career advances.

Whatever the reason, most Twitter users eventually ask: how do I delete ALL my old tweets?

Many discover quite frustratingly that Twitter does not allow users to mass delete tweets in their entirety. You can remove tweets one by one easily enough… but erasing your full tweet history? Twitter makes this bizarrely difficult.

Fortunately, this guide will show you how to delete all tweets on Twitter in just a few simple – if somewhat tedious – steps.

Why Delete All Your Old Tweets?

Here‘s the thing: your opinions, interests, values change over time. The "you" from 5 years ago may have shared cynincal political takes, niche humor, or pop culture hot takes totally out-of-line with who you are today. Maybe you simply posted annoying song lyrics updates every hour.

We get it – people change. But old tweets stick around…even the ones that make you cringe or wince today.

Top reasons people choose to delete all their Twitter history include:

• Presenting consistent personal branding
• Removing embarrassing / inflammatory opinions
• Promoting a professional image
• Focusing Twitter content around specific niches
• Starting fully fresh and unencumbered

According to Pew Research surveys, more than half of adult Twitter users have actually taken breaks from tweeting or even deleted the app from their phones at some point due to negativity or harassment. 40% admit to feeling "worn out" by the platform‘s constant demands for content and argument.

And Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom estimates 60% of users later regret an impulsive post at some point – calling deletion an "emotional hygiene necessity" online today.

This all suggests that deleting old tweets resonates more and more. But before learning exactly how to wipe your Twitter history, let‘s backup that data.

Back Up Your Tweets (Just in Case)

While deleted tweets can never be revived, Twitter at least allows downloading your full account history before wiping. So backing up your tweet archive provides some insurance in case you ever have regrets.

Here‘s how to download a complete Twitter data backup in about 5 minutes before you delete:

1. Go to your Twitter profile and click "More"
2. Select “Settings and privacy” then click “Download an archive of your data”
3. A window pops up prompting you to enter password which confirms account ownership
4. Click blue button “Request archive”
5. Wait 24-48 hours for Twitter to email you link to download data

Store this ZIP folder containing your full tweet history somewhere secure like an external hard drive or cloud backup. That provides peace of mind before your impending Tweet-pocalypse.

Now let‘s explore your options for deleting tweets en masse.

Delete Tweets Manually (One. By. One.)

Removing tweets manually directly through Twitter is by far the most tedious way to erase your history. But it comes with the least risk compared to utilizing third party apps (which we‘ll discuss next).

If you only have a couple hundred tweets or less to delete, manual removal may be reasonably manageable. But still – it‘s not exactly fun to individually delete hundreds upon hundreds of tweets.

Here‘s exactly how to manually delete tweets from Twitter‘s website or mobile app:

1. Log into your Twitter account
2. Navigate to your profile page and hover cursor over the tweets you wish to delete
3. Click ellipsis icon (…) next to the tweet text
4. Select Delete from the drop-down menu
5. Confirm again that you definitely want to permanently erase tweet from internet eternity
6. Cry internally at the thought of repeating steps 2-5 for every single unnecessary tweet gathering digital dust in your feed

Obviously this quickly becomes impractical if you‘ve accumulated thousands of tweets over many years. But if you can power through, it will gradually reduce your Twitter history down to nothing… one… painful… tweet… at a time.

Now for those with especially extensive tweet histories, manually removing tweets seems akin to slowly chipping away at mountain with a teaspoon.

That‘s where "tweet eraser" apps come in handy…

Utilize Third Party Tweet Deletion Apps

For those with sizable tweet histories, manually removing tweets quickly becomes impractical. That‘s why so many people turn to specialized third party apps which delete all tweets in just a few clicks.

Now it‘s important to note – regularly using these services likely violates Twitter‘s Terms around supported API usage and deleting tweet history. Twitter‘s policy reads:

"If you want to stop using Twitter, you may be able to deactivate or delete your account. Please note that we may continue to display your name, username, tweets, and certain other information after you have deactivated your account or deleted your tweets."

Repeated or very frequent use of tweet deleting apps sometimes causes Twitter to outright suspend accounts. Yet convenience still attracts flocks of people to utilize tweet erasers despite the slight risk.

Below we compare the most popular tweet deletion apps:

TweetDelete stands out with the most features plus great customer support. For about $9/month you unlock unlimited deletions, advanced filtering to target old tweets, plus 24/7 user assistance. This gives serious peace around thoroughly deleting your entire history.

TweetEraser takes a similar approach around scheduled deletions but costs slightly less at $7 for 30 full days of access. Decent bulk erasing power for the price.

TweetDeleter remains simple, focused almost exclusively on deleting tweets without many bonus features. But hey – if you just want those old tweets gone without extra bells & whistles, TweetDeleter still gets the job done.

What Actually Happens to Deleted Tweets?

When you delete a tweet – either manually or using a deletion app – where does it actually go? Is that content really erased forever from the internet?

Well…mostly.

Once deleted, tweets immediately disappear completely from current public view on Twitter as well as remove themselves from Twitter‘s search index and Google searches. For all intents and purposes, that content vanishes permanently as far as the digital world is concerned.

However – screenshots or archived copies of tweets could feasibly still exist externally on someone else‘s hard drive or various internet archives. But generally speaking, deleting a tweet removes it entirely from public access moving forward.

Maintaining your personal brand and curating your thoughts carefully is important on big public platforms likes Twitter. The convenience of apps that delete tweets en masse has clear appeal. Just keep in mind that frequent bulk erasing trips up Twitter‘s detection tools and could prompt account suspension.

But used judiciously, employing the power of tweet deletion tools leads to a tidy online presence and fresh social slate.

Just remember – once tweets are gone, they‘re potentially gone forever from your control! So only delete that old content if you‘re absolutely certain.

Happy (digital) spring cleaning!