How To

How To Delete Your Goodreads Account

Emma Nichols

Staff Writer

Emma Nichols is a career bookseller. Though she expected to grow up to be a librarian, or a witch, she's quite happy with how things are working out. Officially, she specializes in children's books and manages their book fairs; unofficially, she is passionate about short stories and spreadsheets. When not evangelizing her favorite books to unsuspecting customers, she can be heard discussing books and bookselling on her podcast Drunk Booksellers. Her other hobbies include organizing her books, taking pictures of her cat, and binge-re-watching her favorite TV shows. Blog: The Bibliot Twitter: @thebibliot

So you want to delete your Goodreads account. Maybe you’re sick of rating books, or your TBR is too much to handle. Perhaps it doesn’t feel like a safe space, or you don’t want Amazon’s mitts on your reading data. Could be you’ve found a better way to track your reading or you’re just sick of social media. Whatever the reason, I am here to help—because it’s not as easy as clicking a button! See below for webpage and mobile instructions for how to delete Goodreads account, as well as alternatives you may want to look into.

How to delete goodreads account

Delete Goodreads Account via the Goodreads Webpage

  1. Log in to your account
  2. Click your profile picture, a drop-down menu will appear. Click “Account settings”
    Goodreads Profile Dropdown Menu
  3. This will bring you to your Profile page. From there, click “Settings” (next to “Profile” and located at the top of the page)Goodreads Account Settings Page
  4. Scroll down. At the bottom of the page, beneath the “Save account settings button,” you’ll see the words “delete my account.” Click those words
    Goodreads delete account button
  5. You’ll be taken to a page that looks like this:Goodreads Delete Account Page
  6. Choose whether or not to keep your discussion posts (anonymously). This option is automatically chosen and must be opted-out of by clicking the blue checkbox
  7. Click “Delete My Account”
  8. One last chance to change your mind!Goodreads Confirm Delete Account
  9. Click “OK”

Delete Goodreads Account via the Goodreads App

  1. Log in to your account
  2. Click the menu bar button (three horizontal lines next to “Updates”)Goodreads Mobile Menu Bar Button
  3. Click “Settings” at the bottom of the menu barGoodreads Mobile Menu Bar
  4. Click “Account Settings.” (You may be asked to confirm your password)Goodreads Mobile Settings Page
  5. Click “Account”
    Goodreads Mobile Account Page
  6. Click “Delete my account”Goodreads Mobile Account Page
  7. Choose whether or not to keep your discussion posts (anonymously). This option is automatically chosen and must be opted-out of by clicking the green “on” button. Click “Delete my account” again
    Goodreads Mobile Delete Your Account
  8. One last chance to change your  mind! Click “Yes, delete my account”
    Goodreads Mobile Confirm Delete Your Account

Goodreads Alternatives

Still interested in rating or cataloging your books, but not on Goodreads? Here’s a list of Goodreads alternatives that Rioter Amanda posted back in 2013. The post is a bit outdated, but still has a lot of good options. Here are the sites listed that no longer exist: Shelfari, weRead, The Reading Room, Booklamp, Reader2, Thirdscribe, and Slice Bookshelf. My personal favorite is LibraryThing—a little more customizable and data-focused than Goodreads.

Since then, we’ve also discovered Litsy, the app that Rioter Brenna describes as “if Instagram and Goodreads had a perfect baby.” You can also take matters entirely in your own hands and keep a reading spreadsheet and/or catalog your book collection.

Have other tips or suggestions? Share them in the comments!