Delete your account
You can delete your Paperwise account from the app at any time. It deletes your account and what we keep for it on our servers. Two switches let you also erase everything on this iPhone and delete your iCloud backup.
What it is
Deleting your account removes it from our servers. On its own, it doesn’t delete the app, your documents on this iPhone, your iCloud backup or your subscription. The screen says: “This deletes your account and everything on our servers.” Below that are two switches, both off at first:
- Also erase everything on this iPhone: your documents, notes, cards and files, Recently deleted, folders, saved signatures and Hidden, every space on this iPhone. It needs Face ID. Afterwards Paperwise starts again like a new install, at the welcome screens.
- Also delete your iCloud backup: deletes Paperwise’s encrypted backup from your iCloud and turns the backup off.
With neither switch on, your documents stay on this iPhone as guest documents (you’re signed out), and your iCloud backup stays in your iCloud. Hidden is touched only when Also erase everything on this iPhone is on, and the screen then says it includes Hidden.
What’s deleted
- Your account, its devices and sessions
- The synced copies of your items on our servers, Hidden ones included
- Your recovery-key escrow (the locked copy of your account key)
- Your share links, made from any of your devices
- Emailed items waiting to be downloaded
- Your Forward by email address. It’s retired, never given to anyone else.
- Your Sign in with Apple link: we ask Apple to revoke it
What remains
| What | Where | For how long |
|---|---|---|
| Your documents on this iPhone, unless you turn on Also erase everything on this iPhone | On this iPhone, signed out | Until you delete them or the app |
| Your documents on your other iPhones and iPads | On those devices | Until you delete them or the app |
| Your encrypted iCloud backup, unless you turn on Also delete your iCloud backup | In your own iCloud | Until you delete it (Account → iCloud backup → Delete backup) |
| AI usage counts (how many actions, not what they were about) | Our server | Expire within 35 days |
| Our database’s history | Our database provider | About 30 days, then gone |
| Your retired email address | Our server, without any link to you | Kept so it’s never given to someone else |
| Purchase records | Apple and RevenueCat | Under their own policies |
Everything in the database history stays encrypted as it was. Your subscription isn’t cancelled by deleting your account: cancel it in Settings → your name → Subscriptions.
Step by step
Delete your account
- On the Vault, tap your avatar to open Account.
- Tap the plan card at the top (Paperwise Free or Paperwise Pro) to open Plan & account.
- Tap Delete account.
- Read what’s deleted. Turn on Also erase everything on this iPhone and Also delete your iCloud backup if you want them.
- Tap Delete account. If you turned on Also erase everything on this iPhone, confirm with Face ID.
If this iPhone has your account key, the account is deleted at once and Paperwise says “Account deleted”. Then:
- With Also erase everything on this iPhone: Paperwise starts again at the welcome screens, like a new install.
- Without it: you’re signed out, and your documents stay on this iPhone as guest documents. If you sign in to another account later, Paperwise asks whether to add them to it.
Keeping your iCloud backup
If you keep the backup, keep the recovery key that protects it. After the account is deleted, that key still opens the backup with Restore from iCloud backup, even if it was your account’s recovery key.
When the deletion is scheduled instead
If this device doesn’t have your account key (for example, you signed in on a new iPhone but didn’t set it up with a code or your recovery key), Paperwise can’t delete the account at once. It shows Deletion scheduled: the account will be deleted 7 days later, and your other devices are told and can cancel it.
The two switches don’t wait: if you turned them on, this iPhone is erased and your iCloud backup deleted straight away.
This protects you. Signing in with Apple is enough to open a session on your account, so someone who gets into your Apple ID could ask to delete it. Deleting at once needs your account key, which only your devices have. A deletion asked for without it waits 7 days.
Cancel a scheduled deletion
- On a device that has your account key, open Account → the plan card.
- Tap the row Deletion scheduled for (the date), then Cancel.
- Paperwise says “Account deletion cancelled”.
Your devices are notified of a scheduled deletion when notifications are on, including devices removed in the last 30 days. Paperwise also shows it in Account, on the sign-in screen and right after you sign in.
Free and Pro
Anyone with an account can delete it. If you pay for Pro, cancel the subscription separately with Apple: see Subscribe, restore and cancel.
Privacy
- Synced items on our servers are encrypted on your devices, so we can’t read them before or after deletion. Deleting removes them; stored files are removed by a job within minutes.
- Old records can linger in our database provider’s history for about 30 days. They stay encrypted.
- Your old Forward by email address is kept, retired and unlinked from you, so mail meant for you never reaches someone else.
Tips
- If you want to keep a copy of your documents, leave both switches off. Your documents stay on this iPhone, and the free iCloud backup works without an account.
- Deleting the app from your iPhone doesn’t delete your account. Delete the account first if that’s what you want. Deleting the app does remove your documents from this iPhone, and if you install it again, it starts fresh. See Install Paperwise.
- To sign out without deleting anything, use Sign out instead. See Sign out.
What if…
What if it says my account will be deleted on a date instead of now?
This device doesn’t have your account key, so the deletion is scheduled for 7 days later. To delete at once, use a device that has the key, or set this one up first with Set up this iPhone (a code from another device, or your recovery key).
What if I see a scheduled deletion I didn’t ask for?
Someone may have signed in with your Apple ID. Cancel it from a device that has your account key. They can’t read your data, delete the account at once or remove your devices. Consider changing your Apple ID password.
What if I change my mind after deleting?
A deletion done with your account key can’t be undone. Unless you turned on Also erase everything on this iPhone, your documents are still on your devices, and you can sign in again to make a new account. A scheduled deletion can be cancelled until it runs, but an erase of this iPhone or of your backup can’t.
What if I lost every device with my account key?
You can still ask to delete the account from a new device. It’s scheduled and runs after 7 days.
Related
Still stuck? Write to support@paperwise.app.