X, the platform most people still call Twitter, takes a narrower approach to death than Facebook or LinkedIn. There is no memorial option: an account either stays live exactly as the person left it, or it is deactivated and eventually deleted. For families, the choice is simpler but the process has its own quirks, including a second verification step that catches many people out.

This guide walks through the process as it works today, what X will ask you for, and what X will not do, so you know the limits before you start.

Short on time? Departed Digital handles X and every other platform for you, including the forms, the documents, and the follow up. Start a case from £149 → Checkout shows your local currency automatically.

What X Will and Will Not Do

If the family wants the posts preserved, screenshot or save them first, or use a public web archive to capture the profile as it stands. Once deactivation goes through, the content becomes unreachable and is permanently deleted after a holding period of around 30 days.

Step by Step: Requesting Deactivation

1
Note the username

You need the person's exact handle, the name beginning with @. Copy the profile link too, from the share option on the profile page.

2
Submit the deceased user form

In the X Help Centre, search "deceased" and open the form for reporting a deceased or incapacitated person's account. Fill in your details, your relationship to the person, and the account information. You do not need an X account of your own.

3
Wait for the follow up email

This is the step people miss. After the form, X emails you asking for more information: a copy of the death certificate, a copy of your own government issued ID, and sometimes a brief statement of your authority to act. The request lands in the inbox you gave on the form, and occasionally in spam, so watch for it.

4
Send the documents and confirm

Reply with clear scans or photos. X reviews and deactivates the account, then deletes it permanently after the holding period. Expect the whole process to take from a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on their queue.

Common Problems

No follow up email arrives

Check spam first. If there is genuinely nothing after a week, submit the form again. Cases go quiet in X's support queue more often than on other platforms, and a fresh request usually restarts movement.

The account is being misused

If the account posts anything after the person's death, it has been compromised. Report it through X's hacked account and impersonation routes as well as the deceased user form, and say clearly in both that the account holder is deceased. Compromised account reports move faster than bereavement requests.

The person used X for their business

If the handle carried a business or public following, think before deactivating: the name becomes unavailable, and after deletion the handle can eventually be registered again by a stranger. Some estates choose to leave a final pinned message and close the account later, or to keep the handle registered to protect the person's name. This is one of the few situations where waiting is a legitimate choice.

We Can Handle X, and Everything Else

The two step form, then email process is exactly the kind of administrative loop that exhausts grieving families. Departed Digital runs it for you, alongside Facebook, Instagram, Google, Apple, TikTok, LinkedIn, and any other platform in the person's estate. You send the documents once, we handle every request and every follow up, and you receive a written record of everything resolved.

Packages start from £149, and checkout shows your local currency automatically. We work with families in the UK and internationally.

Let us handle it. One case covers X and every other platform, with documents, requests, and follow up included. Start a case →