How to Delete Your Canva Account (and Keep Your Designs)

Closing a Canva account takes two minutes. Losing years of designs by accident takes even less. So before you press the button, it's worth knowing what goes with it, what you need to cancel first and how to keep the work you care about.

How to delete your Canva account on a computer

1. Log in to Canva and go to the homepage.
2. Select your profile icon, then Your account.
3. Open Account & security.
4. Under the Account Actions tab, find Delete your account and select Delete account.
5. Enter your password. If you signed up without one, Canva emails you a code to type in instead.
6. Select Delete Account to finish.

The same settings are in the mobile app, under your profile and account settings.

The 14-day window most people don't know about

Canva doesn't wipe your account the moment you confirm. Its help centre says the account is deleted after 14 days, and you can cancel the request simply by logging in again. That's a useful safety net if you change your mind. It also means that if you want the account gone, you need to stay logged out for the full fortnight. One quick peek to grab a file restarts nothing; it cancels the deletion.

What you lose when the account goes

Deleted for good	Things to sort first
All your designs and folders	Download anything you want to keep
Templates and uploads you added	Save your logos and photos locally
Teams and apps you created	Hand over ownership to a colleague
Access to your plan features	Cancel Canva Pro, Teams or Business first

Canva is blunt about it: once deleted, your account can't be recovered. There's no support ticket that brings it back.

Cancel your Pro, Teams or Business plan first

Deleting the account isn't the same as ending your plan. Canva's own advice is to cancel Canva Pro, Canva Teams or Canva Business before you delete, so the plan doesn't keep renewing. Do that from the same account settings area, wait for confirmation, and then come back to delete.

How to save your designs before deleting

You can download designs one at a time from Share, then Download. If you've got a lot, bulk download is faster. Canva's help pages say it supports PDF, JPG, PNG, MP4 and GIF, handles up to 200 designs at once (25 for MP4 or GIF) and up to five folders at a time, all in a single ZIP file.

If you're moving to a new Canva account rather than leaving altogether, keep the designs editable instead. Share each design with your new email address with Can edit access, log in to the new account, open the design and use File, then Make a copy. Canva suggests the same approach for students who are about to lose a school account.

Why Canva won't let you delete your account

• Your workplace or school manages the account. You'll see a message saying you don't have permission. Ask your organisation's admin to remove you instead.
• You own a Creator team. Canva has to deactivate these itself, so contact its Creators support team.
• You're logged in to the wrong account. If you use more than one email, check which one you're in before you start.

Deleting the app is not deleting the account

This trips a lot of people up. Removing the Canva app from your phone or computer only removes the app. Your account, your designs and any plan you're on carry on exactly as before. If you want the account gone, you have to go through the steps above, ideally on a computer where the settings are easiest to find.

The reverse is true too. If you deleted the app months ago and forgot about it, your account is probably still there with all your designs, so log in on the web before assuming you've lost anything.

Deleting vs just walking away

If you're only fed up with the emails, you don't need to delete anything. Unsubscribe from the marketing messages and leave the free account sitting there. You'll keep your designs in case a client asks for an old file. I'd only delete if you're tidying up your data on purpose or closing down a business account. Before you go, it's also worth knowing what else is out there; my roundup of content creation sites for small businesses covers the main alternatives.

My verdict

Cancel any Pro, Teams or Business plan, download everything you'd miss, then delete from Account & security. Remember the 14-day window works both ways: it can rescue you, and logging in during it will quietly undo your request. And if you use Affinity through your Canva login, Canva says you'll only be able to use it offline for 14 days after deleting, so plan for that too. If you still need a free way to edit files afterwards, have a look at my list of PDF editors.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take Canva to delete an account?

Canva deletes the account 14 days after you submit the request.

Can I recover a deleted Canva account?

Not once it's deleted. During the 14-day window you can cancel the request by logging in.

Does deleting my Canva account cancel Canva Pro?

Canva advises cancelling Pro, Teams or Business first so the plan doesn't keep renewing.

Why does Canva say I don't have permission to delete my account?

Your account is managed by an organisation such as a school or employer. Ask its admin to remove you.

Does deleting the Canva app delete my account?

No. Removing the app only removes the app. Your account and designs stay until you delete the account in Account and security.

How do I keep my designs before deleting Canva?

Download them from Share, then Download, or use bulk download for up to 200 designs at once.