---
type: howto
stage: Manage
group: Access
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Deleting a User account

Users can be deleted from a GitLab instance, either by:

- The user themselves.
- An administrator.

NOTE:
Deleting a user deletes all projects in that user namespace.

## As a user

As a user, to delete your own account:

1. In the top-right corner, select your avatar.
1. Select **Edit profile**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Account**.
1. Select **Delete account**.

## As an administrator

As an administrator, to delete a user account:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Admin**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Overview > Users**.
1. Select a user.
1. Under the **Account** tab, select:
   - **Delete user** to delete only the user but maintain their
     [associated records](#associated-records).
   - **Delete user and contributions** to delete the user and
     their associated records.

WARNING:
Using the **Delete user and contributions** option may result
in removing more data than intended. Please see [associated records](#associated-records)
below for additional details.

## Associated Records

> - Introduced for issues in [GitLab 9.0](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/7393).
> - Introduced for merge requests, award emoji, notes, and abuse reports in [GitLab 9.1](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/10467).
> - Hard deletion from abuse reports and spam logs was introduced in [GitLab 9.1](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/10273), and from the API in [GitLab 9.3](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/11853).

There are two options for deleting users:

- **Delete user**
- **Delete user and contributions**

When using the **Delete user** option, not all associated records are deleted with the user.
Here's a list of things that are **not** deleted:

- Issues that the user created.
- Merge requests that the user created.
- Notes that the user created.
- Abuse reports that the user reported.
- Award emoji that the user created.

Instead of being deleted, these records are moved to a system-wide
user with the username "Ghost User", whose sole purpose is to act as a container
for such records. Any commits made by a deleted user still display the
username of the original user.

When using the **Delete user and contributions** option, **all** associated records
are removed. This includes all of the items mentioned above including issues,
merge requests, notes/comments, and more. Consider
[blocking a user](../../admin_area/moderate_users.md#block-a-user)
or using the **Delete user** option instead.

When a user is deleted from an [abuse report](../../admin_area/review_abuse_reports.md)
or spam log, these associated
records are not ghosted and are removed, along with any groups the user
is a sole owner of. Administrators can also request this behavior when
deleting users from the [API](../../../api/users.md#user-deletion) or the
Admin Area.

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