Move your assets and records out before you close your Binance account
Deleting a Binance account is called closing it on Binance's own pages. A closed account can't be restored, and any assets left in it are lost. Based on Binance's Help Center, this covers the checklist before you close, the 8 steps in the app, the 30-day-or-longer limit on verification if you sign up again, and the disable option if theft is all you're worried about.
Binance's Help Center states plainly that a closed account can't be restored: once it's closed, you can no longer log in to it. If there are still assets in the account when you close it, the official warning is that those assets will be lost and can't be recovered. So the order here is the reverse of signing up: move your money and your records out first, and press that button last.
You may know this as deleting your account; Binance's own pages call it closing, and on this page the two mean the same thing. This guide follows Binance's Help Center article on how to close a Binance account.
What you can't get back after closing
The notes on the closing page list four points. One of them covers two things at once, so taken apart there are five things at stake:
- The account itself. Once closed, it can't be restored or accessed again.
- Your trade history. Binance's own pages don't agree on this one. The English Help Center page now says to download it before you close, while the Chinese page says you can still download your trade history through an official tool after closing. Don't gamble on whether it will still be downloadable afterwards; export it and save it before you close. If you really need it later, ask official customer support first.
- Identity verification if you register again. If you open a new account after closing, identity verification may be restricted for 30 days or longer. The page says it may happen, and "or longer" means no upper limit is given.
- Your referral relationship. If the new account's referral relationship doesn't match the old one, you lose the fee discount or cashback that came with the old referral.
- Promotions and rewards. After closing you're also no longer eligible to join promotions or claim rewards.
On the final confirmation screen, if the account still holds assets, Binance tells you to tap [Cancel] first and move them to another account; otherwise they'll be lost and can't be recovered. A few dollars of leftover change counts too, so don't skip it just because the amount is small.
Of the five, the one people underestimate most is verification. Some close their account to "start fresh", but if the new account can't get verified for a while, there's very little it can do. To see where verification tends to get stuck, read The full Binance KYC process: every step, and every place it snags first, then decide whether it's worth it.
What to do before you close your Binance account
Go through this checklist in order and finish each item before moving on. The first three are about money; the last two are about whether you'll ever use Binance again.
- Move out every balance. Whatever still shows in the account, whether you deposited it, bought it or got it from a promotion, send it to another account or wallet you control. Check the address and network before sending; a mistake there can't be undone either. If you hold Binance US stocks, read Can you withdraw Binance US stocks to a wallet? first to find out whether the type you hold can be moved directly or has to be sold.
- Wait until the transfer has actually arrived. On-chain transfers take time to confirm. Once the other account or wallet shows it received the funds, come back and check that your Binance balance is empty. Don't start the closing process while a transfer is still on its way.
- Check for unclaimed rewards. After closing you can't claim them. Claim whatever you can, then move it out along with everything in step 1.
- Save your own copy of your trade history. The English and Chinese Help Center pages disagree on whether you can still download it after closing, so export a copy to your computer while you can still log in. If you ever need it for reconciling or taxes, you won't have to hunt for a tool.
- Make sure you won't be coming back soon. Coming back means facing the two things from the previous section: verification on a new account may be restricted for a while, and your old referral relationship doesn't carry over. If part of you thinks you might use it again in a few months, hold off on closing.
If you want to close the account because you suspect someone has been in it, skip to the last section and look at disabling it first. Disabling doesn't make the account disappear.
How to close your Binance account in the app: 8 steps
You can close your account in the Binance app or on the website, and the official page gives a set of steps for each. These are the app steps; just follow along:
- Log in to the Binance app, go to [Account Center] and tap the profile section at the top.
- Go to [Security] and scroll down to [Manage Account].
- Tap [Close Account].
- Choose a reason for closing.
- Read the terms and conditions carefully, then tap [Continue].
- If the account still holds assets, tap [Cancel] to exit and move them out first. Once you've confirmed there's nothing left, tick the checkbox and tap [Close Account].
- Complete the security verification.
- The page confirms that your account has been closed.
For the terms in step 5, the official wording is to read them carefully, so don't just tap through. As you read, compare them against the checklist in the previous section. If you find something you haven't done yet, exit and deal with it; the account isn't closed yet, and you can come back to the process later.
Step 6 is the only step in the official instructions that specifically mentions assets. If you feel even slightly unsure when you get there, tap [Cancel] and go through the checklist again. Once you tick the box, tap [Close Account] and finish the security verification, all that's left is the result page.
Only worried about theft? Disable your account instead
Binance also has a [Disable Account] feature. Its Help Center article on disabling a personal account describes it as a way to protect your assets when you notice suspicious activity on your account. It's meant for the situation where your account may not be safe, and it doesn't close the account.
The path in the app:
- Go to [Account Info] - [Security]. (Binance's disabling page says [Account Info], while its closing page says [Account Center]; go by what your app shows.)
- Scroll down and tap [Manage Account] - [Disable Account].
- Read the notes carefully and tap [Disable Account].
- Complete the security verification.
Watch out: [Disable Account] and [Close Account] both sit inside [Manage Account], and it's easy to tap the wrong one when you're rattled. Read the button label before you tap, and check the page title again on the next screen.
If you later want to unlock a disabled account, Binance points you to a separate Help Center article on unlocking a Binance account. Follow whatever requirements that page lists at the time.