Wikipedia:Courtesy vanishing

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For current Wikimedia practice, see meta:Account vanishing.

The usual way to leave Wikipedia is simply to stop editing and abandon the account. However, a courtesy vanishing may be implemented if a user in good standing decides not to return and wishes to make their contributions less easily traceable or to remove their association with their edits. If there is no administrative need to retain the information, a departing user may request the deletion of a wide range of their user pages, as well as other pages affecting them alone. The user's account is renamed, user pages are blanked or deleted, and pages related to the user's conduct may also be deleted, blanked, or moved. Contributions, logs, signatures, and user-page templates (such as those related to blocks or bans) are usually not removed, and user talk pages are usually not deleted.

Courtesy vanishing is discretionary and may be refused. It is not intended as a temporary measure, nor as a way to avoid scrutiny or avoid sanctions. "Vanishing" differs from a clean start and does not guarantee anonymity. Pages deleted as part of vanishing may be restored following community discussion. If the user returns, the vanishing will likely be fully reversed, the old and new accounts will be linked, and any prior sanctions or restrictions reinstated.

It is not possible to delete an account. Because all contributions are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 License and GFDL, every edit must be attributed to a user.

Vanishing from Wikipedia

Vanishing typically involves the following:

• A global renamer or steward responds to a vanishing request and renames the account to a randomly-generated string of characters, such as "Renamed user 3PF4b0Kg3dVNlyg5iZ0ipzClCXxdw8St".
• The account is globally locked, preventing any future logins.
• Edits and other contributions will be re-attributed to the new username, but will not be removed.
• Direct links to the old username, such as signatures on talk pages and project discussion pages, will not be changed and will continue to point to the old username.
• The account's user page and subpages will be moved to the new username. If you want your user pages deleted, request this before initiating a vanishing request. User talk pages are rarely deleted and may be restored if there is community consensus through a deletion review.
• Vanishing is global, and the above changes will apply to all Wikimedia wikis a user is on. It is not possible to vanish on some wikis but not on others. For example, a user may not vanish from Wikipedia but continue to edit on Wikimedia Commons.
• The act of renaming the account and moving user pages are publicly logged in the global rename log and local page move logs.

What vanishing is not

• Vanishing is not a way to start over with a fresh account. Requesting courtesy vanishing implies that you do not intend to return. If you vanish and then continue editing under a new account, and are later discovered, the vanishing can be reversed, and your old and new accounts may be linked. If you want to continue editing under a different account, consider a clean start instead of vanishing (see § Alternatives to vanishing).
• Vanishing is not a way to avoid accountability, criticism, sanctions, or other negative attention unless you genuinely intend to leave permanently. Users who have been disruptive, lost the community's trust, or are blocked or banned may not be granted courtesy vanishing.
• Vanishing is not a method for erasing evidence of conflicts of interest or organizational affiliations that contradict Wikipedia's community values. For instance, a business account criticized for its editing cannot use vanishing to remove that record.
• Vanishing is not a suitable response if you wish to continue editing after unintentionally revealing personal information. In such cases, contact Oversight to have the information removed.

Alternatives to vanishing

Before proceeding, remember that vanishing is a last resort, intended only for those who wish to stop editing permanently and minimize their visible past associations. You may want to consider the following alternatives:

• You may choose to simply retire from editing and stop using your account. There is no obligation for you to stay on Wikipedia, and users are free to leave at any time. If you do not want to be able to use your account again, you may also scramble your password and remove your account's email address to prevent password recovery.
• If you want to continue editing under a different username, you may request a username change and have your contributions re-attributed to the new name, maintaining the edit history.
• If you want to continue editing under a different account, without continuing your past edit history, consider a clean start, which involves starting fresh with a new account while abandoning the old one. Note that you may not combine a clean start with courtesy vanishing. If you request vanishing for your old account and then create a new account for a clean start, vanishing for your old account may be reversed and your two accounts may be linked, meaning that others will know your old identity.

How to request a courtesy vanishing

See also: Help:Delete account

To request courtesy vanishing, do the following:

1. Request deletion of your user pages by adding the {{Db-userreq}} tag at the top of each page to be deleted. Another option is to replace the user page with the {{Retired}} template. Note that user talk pages are generally not deleted, except in rare cases (see § Deletion of user talk pages).
2. If you have edited other Wikimedia wikis, you may request deletion of your user pages on other Wikimedia wikis using Synchbot.
3. Submit your vanishing request using one of the following methods:
   • Navigate to Special:GlobalVanishRequest, then submit a request for vanishing. Your request will be automatically granted if your account has not made any edits on any wiki. Otherwise, it will be submitted into a queue for review. Requests submitted in this way cannot be cancelled.
   • Email the global renamers team by using the email form or by emailing renamerswikimedia.org, using "Request for courtesy vanishing" as the subject. If you email directly, include some sort of verification that you own the account.

Records of your correspondence are visible only to current global renamers, stewards, and Wikimedia Foundation staff.

For questions about vanishing or to explore less permanent solutions, consider contacting a Functionary or a member of the Arbitration Committee for advice.

Deletion of user talk pages

While user pages and subpages may be deleted, the deletion of established users' talk pages is rarely granted due to their nature as collaborative documents primarily written by other editors. Such deletions are the exception rather than the rule, and user talk pages should not be speedy deleted. Community consensus is that user talk pages should be deleted only when there are compelling reasons per the revision deletion policy, such as serious privacy breaches and potential for real-world harm. Users seeking the deletion of their talk pages for this reason should consult a functionary or the Arbitration Committee. Otherwise, deletion requests for user talk pages should go through Miscellany for Deletion (MfD). Any deletion may be challenged and reversed at deletion review. User talk pages must not be moved to user subpages as a means to facilitate their deletion.

See also

• Wikipedia:Anonymity
• Wikipedia:Changing username
• Wikipedia:Clean start
• Meta:Account vanishing
• Wikipedia:Retiring
• Wikipedia:Sleeper account
• Template:Userbox Ex-Wikipedia
• Wikipedia:Missing Wikipedians