# Data Deletion and Retention > Delete your Avox account, a Switchboard, or a connection; how Meta deletion requests and the public status page work; and what Avox keeps. Source: https://docs.theavoxai.com/data-deletion You decide what stays in Avox and what goes. This page covers every way to delete data, what each one removes, how a deletion request from Meta works, and how long Avox keeps things. ## Ways to delete | What | Where | Who | | --- | --- | --- | | Your account | **Settings > Security > Delete account**, which opens the **Delete account** page | You | | A Switchboard and everything in it | **Settings > Switchboard > General > Delete Switchboard** | An Admin | | One WhatsApp connection | The connection's own page in [Connections](https://docs.theavoxai.com/connections) | An Admin, with a code emailed to the Owner | | Your Facebook-linked data | Remove Avox from your Facebook account settings - Meta sends Avox a deletion request | You | | Anything else, or on your behalf | Email hello@theavoxai.com from your account's email address | You | Cancelling a plan **doesn't** delete anything: your numbers pause and your data stays until you delete it. See [Cancel](https://docs.theavoxai.com/billing/cancel). ## Deleting your account Deleting your account happens on its own page in the dashboard, not in a pop-up. Open **Settings > Security** and click **Delete account**. **Keep my account** is on every step, so you can stop at any point and nothing changes. **1. Tell us why you're leaving** Pick one reason, such as "I'm not using it enough" or "Technical problems". **Something else** needs a few words. You can also add a note. To skip the questions, click **Go straight to deleting**, or **Export your data first** to download a copy from [Compliance](https://docs.theavoxai.com/compliance). **2. Before you go** Depending on your reason, this step can show an offer from Avox, a way to report a problem or ask for a feature (it becomes a support ticket), and **Pause your account instead** (see below). It also lists what you'd lose: your Switchboards and how many numbers, contacts, messages, templates, Flows and automations are in them. Click **Continue deleting** to go on. **3. Check what happens** The page shows exactly what deleting does for your account (see "Deleted now, or on request" below), including which Switchboards are deleted with it, which carry on without you, and which you only lose access to. **4. Confirm it's you** Enter **Your current password**, or click **Email me a code** and type the 6-digit code from the email. Accounts that sign in only with Google or Facebook use the code. Then type `DELETE` in capitals. **5. Hold the button** Press and hold **Hold to delete my account** (or **Hold to request deletion**) until it fills. ### Deleted now, or on request | Your Switchboards | What happens | | --- | --- | | You run none, or every Switchboard you're an Admin of has another Admin | **Deleted now.** Your login and profile are deleted straight away and you're signed out everywhere. You get an **Account deleted** email, the last email Avox sends to that address. | | You're the only member of one or more Switchboards | **On request.** Those Switchboards are deleted with your account, with every number, contact, message, template, Flow and automation in them. The Avox team carries this out within 30 days, usually much sooner, and emails you when it's done. Your account keeps working until then, and you can follow or cancel the request on the [Compliance](https://docs.theavoxai.com/compliance) page. | If you've already asked for your account to be deleted, the page says so and links to the request on [Compliance](https://docs.theavoxai.com/compliance) instead of asking again. ### What's removed - Your sign-in (password, passkeys, connected Google or Facebook, two-factor) and your profile. - Your membership of every Switchboard. - Switchboards where you're the only member, on request (see above). ### What isn't removed - Switchboards that other Admins still run carry on without you. - Switchboards where you're a Manager: you lose access, and nothing in them is deleted. - Payment and invoice records Avox must keep by law, kept separately from your login (see "How long Avox keeps things" below). ### When it can't go ahead yet | What the page says | What to do | | --- | --- | | You're the only Admin of a Switchboard, and other people use it | A Switchboard always keeps an Admin. Make someone else an Admin, or remove the other members, in **Settings > Switchboard**. See [Invites](https://docs.theavoxai.com/switchboard/invites). | | Your plan is still billed through a Switchboard that would be deleted | Cancel the plan on the [Billing](https://docs.theavoxai.com/billing) page first so PayPal stops charging you. See [Cancel](https://docs.theavoxai.com/billing/cancel). | | "That password isn't right" | Check the password, or click **Email me a code** instead. | | "Your confirmation code has expired - request a new one" | Codes last 10 minutes and work once. Ask for a new code. | | "Type DELETE in capitals to confirm" | Type `DELETE` exactly, in capital letters. | | "Couldn't delete your account. Please try again or contact support." | Something else went wrong. Try again, or email hello@theavoxai.com from your account's email address. | ### Pause instead If you only need a break, **Pause your account instead** on the **Before you go** step stops things without deleting anything: - Every Switchboard you're an Admin of is paused: its WhatsApp numbers and automations stop, nothing is sent or forwarded from it, and the dashboard shows a **Switchboard paused** banner. - A monthly or yearly PayPal plan is paused too, so PayPal doesn't charge you while you're paused. A plan that's already paid for keeps its end date. - Your contacts, templates, messages and settings stay exactly as they are. To come back, open **Settings > Security > Delete account** (or click **Resume account** on the banner) and click **Resume my account**. Avox switches back on exactly what the pause stopped. If your plan has no room for every number, the extra ones stay paused and you can resume them from [Connections](https://docs.theavoxai.com/connections). An Admin can also pause or resume a single Switchboard in **Settings > Switchboard**. ## Deleting a Switchboard An Admin types the Switchboard's exact name and clicks **Delete permanently**. Everything in it is deleted immediately, with no recovery window: its WhatsApp connections, contacts, conversations, templates, Flows, automations, team memberships, webhook and health logs, and its own subscription and invoice records. Full steps: [Deleting a Switchboard](https://docs.theavoxai.com/switchboard#deleting-a-switchboard). It's refused while it's your only Switchboard, or while your plan is billed through it (cancel the plan first). To close your last Switchboard, email hello@theavoxai.com or open a ticket in [Support](https://docs.theavoxai.com/support) and the Avox team deletes it for you. ## Deleting a connection Deleting one WhatsApp connection needs a one-time code emailed to the Switchboard's Owner. After you confirm, the connection disappears from Avox right away, every Admin gets a **WhatsApp number removed** email, and the Avox team can still restore it for a few days - the email says until when. After that it's removed for good. See [Connections](https://docs.theavoxai.com/connections). ## Deletion requests from Meta If you remove Avox from your Facebook account settings, Meta sends Avox a signed deletion request and gives you a **confirmation code** - a 36-character code like `3f6c2a91-8d4e-4b7a-9c15-0e2f7a6b5d43`. Avox checks the request really came from Meta before doing anything. ### What Avox does Avox looks for Avox accounts that sign in with that Facebook login, and for each one: 1. **The WhatsApp numbers** in the Switchboards you're an Admin of are removed. 2. **If Facebook was your only way to sign in and no plan is being billed through PayPal**, your whole Avox account is deleted, together with any Switchboard where you're the only member. 3. **Otherwise**, only the Facebook sign-in is removed from your account. Your other sign-in methods and your Switchboards stay. (If a plan is still being billed, cancel it yourself - see [Cancel](https://docs.theavoxai.com/billing/cancel).) 4. You get a **Facebook data deletion completed** email with the confirmation code and a link to the status page. If no Avox account uses that Facebook login, the request is closed as "no data found". > **Note** > > A request from Meta is matched through Facebook sign-in. If you connected WhatsApp but never signed in > to Avox with Facebook, email hello@theavoxai.com from your account's email > address, or delete the Switchboard or connection yourself. ### The deletion status page Meta links you to **avox.com/data-deletion-status**. You can also open it yourself and paste your code under **Confirmation code**, then click **Check**. The page shows only the request's progress and dates - nothing about your account: | Title | Meaning | | --- | --- | | We're deleting your data | Received and in progress. "It's always done within 30 days - usually much sooner." The timeline shows the date it's due by at the latest. | | Your data has been deleted | Finished, with the date. "Nothing linked to this request is left on Avox." | | No data found | Nothing on Avox was linked to the Facebook account that asked, so there was nothing to delete. | | We couldn't find that code | Check it matches the code Meta showed you - all 36 characters. | The timeline has three steps - **Request received**, **Deleting your data** (or **Checking for your data**), and **Deleted** (or **Nothing to delete**) - and a copy button for the code. Use **Check another code** to look up a different request. The [Data Deletion](https://avox.com/data-deletion) page on avox.com has a quick **Check status** box too: paste the code to see **In progress**, **Deleted**, or **No data found** with the dates, then **Open the deletion status page** for the full timeline. ## Your customers' data People who message your WhatsApp numbers are your contacts, and you control their data in your Switchboard. If one of them asks Avox to delete their data, email hello@theavoxai.com - Avox passes the request to the business they messaged and confirms once it's done. ## How long Avox keeps things | Data | How long | | --- | --- | | Webhook delivery logs | Your choice in [Compliance](https://docs.theavoxai.com/compliance#retention-settings): 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days (30 by default). | | Number health history | Your choice in Compliance: 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days (30 by default). | | Conversations, contacts, templates, Flows, automations | Until you delete them, or the connection or Switchboard they belong to. | | Records Avox must keep by law | Payment records (plan, amount, currency, date, status, PayPal reference), coupon and gift use, your agreements to Avox's terms and policies, and the audit log of account and billing actions are kept for as long as Indian tax, accounting, and legal record-keeping rules require - even after an account or Switchboard is deleted. | The full policy is on Avox's [Data Deletion](https://avox.com/data-deletion) page and in the [Privacy Policy](https://avox.com/privacy-policy).