Account deletion flow completes but account remains active

[SluicingStrix]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Other

Body

I am reporting a reproducible issue in the self-service account deletion flow.

What I tried:

• Opened https://github.com/settings/admin
• Entered username and "delete my account"
• Confirmed access with password

Expected result:

• Account is deleted
• Profile URL returns 404

Actual result:

• Flow completes and logs me out
• Account stays active (profile still reachable)

Context:

• Personal account with no repositories and no org membership
• Reproduced multiple times in the same session
• I already contacted GitHub Support; posting here as product bug feedback only

Could the team check whether deletion can fail silently after confirm access?

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[Shade555]

how long did you wait to check, my guess is github probably waits for a while before actually deleting your account, that or maybe the page you viewed could be cached not sure but you can still check the public profile in incognito mode or wait for a day or two, your account is fully empty right like no Oauth or any other stuff used.

[SluicingStrix]

Thanks for the reply. I retried multiple times over ~2 hours (not just a quick check). Each run completed with password confirmation and logout, but the profile stayed live.

Account is empty: 0 repos, no org membership. I also opened support ticket #4485524.

I will re-check in incognito and again after 24-48h and report back here.

[yp516325-alt]

+917405421653

[SluicingStrix]

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I reported it to repository admins (reason: Spam).

@github-actions[bot] — FYI: this thread now has off-topic spam attached. The actual topic remains the account-deletion bug above.

(This thread is only about GitHub self-service account deletion failing silently.)

[maheerCodes]

hey @SluicingStrix 👋.
the behavior you're describing(flow completes, logs you out, but account stays live)is likely intentional by design rather than a silent failure,,, github account deletion goes through a processing/grace period on the backend before the profile actually disapppears. the flow completing and logging you out just means the deletion was queued, not that it executed immediately .
the key thing to check,,,,did you receive a "your account has been scheduled for deletion" confirmation email ? if yes, the deletion is queued and the profile will disapppear within a few hours to a couple of days. if no email arrived, then something may have actually failed silently.
since you've already opened support ticket #4485524 and are checking back in 24-48hrs ,, that's the right approach. community members here cant access account deletion status, so support is the correct path if the profile is still live after 48hrs with no confirmation email.

hope it resolves cleanly❤️❤️❤️❤️

[SluicingStrix]

Thanks @maheerCodes for the thoughtful reply — I appreciate you taking the time.

Quick update on the key point you raised:

• I did not receive any email titled "Your account has been scheduled for deletion" (or similar wording).
• The only GitHub-related confirmation I received after the deletion attempts was the Support ticket receipt for #4485524 on June 16 (support@githubsupport.com).
• The profile is still live: https://github.com/SluicingStrix
• Support ticket #4485524 remains open — no staff reply yet.

I retried the official flow multiple times over ~2 hours (username, delete my account, password on Confirm access). Each run completed with logout, but the account stayed active each time — not just a short cache/wait check.

If a scheduled-deletion email arrives later, I will update here. For now, without that confirmation, this still looks like a silent failure rather than a queued deletion on my side.

I'll keep waiting on Support and re-check the profile in incognito. Thanks again.

[maheerCodes]

hey @SluicingStrix ,,,,,,,, thanks for the detailed update.
no confirmation email after multiple completed flows is the clearest signal that something is genuinely failing silently on github's side,,,,,a queuedd deletion should always send that email. this lines up more with a bug than expected behavior at this point.
nothing more to try on your end,, ,,suppport ticket #4485524 is the right path and your detailed reproduction steps(multiple attempts, no email, profile still live) are exactly what they'll need to investigate it.

hope they pick it up soon❤️❤️❤️❤️ .