How to delete a DeepSeek account, and refund your API balance before it is forfeited

Where is the delete button in DeepSeek?

DeepSeek's delete dialog lists the cost before it lets you confirm. It carries four warnings: chat history on the app and web is deleted for good, access to both the chat and the developer platform is revoked, unused Open Platform balance is forfeited, and repeated deletion and sign up "may be flagged as abnormal activity" that can lead to restrictions or permanent bans. We read that text in the chat.deepseek.com web app's code on 11 October 2026, signed out, so we haven't seen the dialog on a live account.

The labels differ by surface. The web app's code gives its settings window four tabs (General, Profile, Data and About) and puts the delete row under Profile. DeepSeek's FAQ, read on 11 October 2026, calls the same place Account settings. The FAQ also warns about the two losses in one breath: "After deletion, all chat history in the current account will be permanently deleted. Any unused balance in your developer account will be forfeited upon deletion."

There's no grace period. DeepSeek's privacy policy says that once you delete, you won't be able to reactivate the account or retrieve its content or personal data. xAI keeps a deleted account for 30 days. Perplexity keeps one until its deletion finishes, within 30 days. Signing in during that window brings either one back. DeepSeek has no such window.

Uninstalling the app isn't deletion. Your account, its chats and any API balance stay on DeepSeek's servers until you use the control above.

Does deleting DeepSeek delete your API account too?

Yes. DeepSeek's Open Platform Terms of Service, effective 29 April 2026, put it in one line: "The Open Platform Service and the chat service use the same account." The delete dialog says the same thing from the other side: you lose access to "chat and the developer platform". The login you use on chat.deepseek.com is the login behind your API keys and your balance on platform.deepseek.com.

So a developer who deletes the chat account to get away from the app ends their API access with it. Any unused balance goes too.

The money is recoverable before you delete, not after. DeepSeek's FAQ says "Unused balances can be refunded." For an online payment, you log in to the platform, open Billing and click Refunds. A corporate bank transfer needs a support ticket marked Refund Request. The terms attach three conditions. DeepSeek reviews each request first. It deducts "necessary costs such as handling fees". And it pays out everything left in one lump sum, because partial refunds aren't supported. Spent balance is never refunded.

If you want to keep the API and lose the chats, don't delete the account at all. Delete the chats (covered below) and leave the account standing. The FAQ says top up balances don't expire, so an idle balance costs nothing to keep.

There's no subscription to cancel on the chat side. DeepSeek's privacy policy says payment data doesn't apply to the DeepSeek App, and the only paid service it describes is the open platform. That's why the App Store and Google Play steps in other deletion guides don't apply here.

What does DeepSeek keep after you delete your account?

DeepSeek doesn't publish a deletion deadline. OpenAI says deleted ChatGPT data goes within 30 days. DeepSeek's privacy policy, last updated 10 February 2026, gives no number of days at all.

Here's what it does say. DeepSeek keeps account data, inputs and payment data "for as long as you have an account". When it no longer needs data, it and its service providers destroy, delete, erase or anonymize it as the law permits.

Two exceptions survive deletion. The Terms of Use, last updated 27 March 2026, keep DeepSeek's right to retain certain data "as required by laws and regulations". They also keep its right to act on anything you did against the terms before you deleted.

Location matters for both. The policy states: "we directly collect, process and store your Personal Data in People's Republic of China." The Terms of Use are governed by the law of mainland China, and disputes go to a court where DeepSeek's Hangzhou company is registered. Anything retained after deletion sits on servers in China.

For a formal request, the policy lists rights to delete, access, correct and receive a portable copy of your data, sent by email to [email protected]. DeepSeek may ask you to verify your identity first. You can appeal a refusal at the same address.

Can you delete DeepSeek chat history without deleting the account?

Yes, all at once or one chat at a time. On the web, Settings, then Data, then Delete all clears every chat after a confirm step, and DeepSeek's dialog says share links from those chats stop working. For a single chat, click the three dots next to it on the web, or long press it in the app, then choose Delete. The FAQ says deleted chats can't be recovered, so either way it's final.

Export before you delete anything. On the web, Settings, then Data, then Export data builds a file with your account information and all chat history. DeepSeek says the download link is valid for 7 days.

Deleting chats doesn't reach training. The same Data tab has a switch called Improve the model for everyone, which lets DeepSeek use your content to train its models. Turn it off to opt out from then on. The policy backs that with "the right to opt-out of using your Personal Data for training our models", and DeepSeek's training disclosure says a small portion of its fine tuning data may be based on user input. To ask for erasure of data the settings don't show, email [email protected].

If you think someone else has used your account, the FAQ's fix is Log out of all devices in the same account settings, followed by a password reset from the login screen. That's quicker than deleting, and you keep the account.

Signed up with a phone number, WeChat or Google? Check which account you are deleting

One person can end up with two DeepSeek accounts. The FAQ's answer to a missing balance is that you probably topped up on a different account than the one you're signed into, and it suggests trying your Google or email login.

Three login rules from the same FAQ decide which account you can reach. WeChat login works only from IP addresses in mainland China. Google login doesn't work from mainland China at all. And you can't change the email bound to an account.

A phone sign up is the easiest one to lose. If the number still receives texts, change it in the account settings. If it's out of service, DeepSeek wants an Account Rebinding/Unbinding Application form with proof of identity, and says most reviews finish within 3 business days. Get back in first. You can't delete an account you can't open.

Deleting frees the number. DeepSeek tells people switching numbers that the new one must not be registered already "or has been deregistered", so a number from a deleted account can sign up again. The balance doesn't follow it. The FAQ says an account that was deactivated and registered again is a separate account, and the old balance can't be transferred. It points those users to a Refund Request ticket, with no promise about the outcome. Don't make a habit of it: the delete dialog warns that frequent deletion and re-registration can get an account restricted or banned.

If it is the app you are leaving, not the model

Most people who delete DeepSeek are leaving the app and its servers in China, not the model. DeepSeek publishes its models as open weights, so other services run them under their own policies. Whizi is one of them: DeepSeek V3.2 sits in the Pro plan next to Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, GPT and Gemini. Requests go through OpenRouter, and Whizi doesn't use your chats to train Whizi models. Using DeepSeek in Whizi lists the rows, and DeepSeek vs ChatGPT compares the models themselves.

The case for keeping the DeepSeek account is code. A chat subscription doesn't replace API keys your own software calls, so a developer with live integrations should delete the chats and keep the account. If DeepSeek isn't your only exit, the ChatGPT and Grok deletion guides cover the other two.