Paypal has long proven its effectiveness as a payment service. Millions of people around the world use it. However, despite its convenient functionality, it has a few unintelligible things, such as, for example, the inability to delete the history of transactions. And this article will give you information about what are the ways to clear your history and do it correctly and without consequences.
What you need to know before deleting your transactions history
The fact is that you can’t delete your history in the way you’re looking for it. Paypal is designed so that if you want your transaction history zapped, then you’ll have to permanently delete your PayPal account.
However, first, you need to understand that unlike other social networks and applications, where there is an option to delete or deactivate your account, here it’s not so simple. If you delete your account, it’s for good. Together with the account, you get rid of the information on it, including history. If there are any account data that you may need in the future, you should download it.
You can still create a new account using the same email address. But Paypal will see it as a brand new account, so you will not be able to restore the old one.
In addition, if you have debts or you have a certain balance on your account, you will not be able to delete your account. That is, you must first close the debts and withdraw the money before you can delete the account.
And if you use Paypal not for personal purposes, but for business, you cannot delete the account without the provided documents.
And again, before you decide to delete your account, download all information and history beforehand. Below you will learn how to do it correctly.
How to download your account history
To download your account history:
- Go to PayPal’s official website, log in to your account, and then click the “Reports” tab
- In the left-hand pane, click “Activity Download”
- On the Activity Download page, you can select which types of transactions you want to download (such as completed payments), the date range of transactions (of up to 7 years), and the file format of the report (such as CSV or PDF). Once you’ve decided all of this, click the “Create Report” button
After that you should receive a report by mail. Depending on how much history you have, it may take a while. Don’t rush to delete your account yet, as you’ll need to log back into your account to get the report once it’s ready.
How to permanently delete your PayPal account
To permanently delete your PayPal account and transaction history:
- Open any browser on your desktop, go to PayPal’s official website, and then log in to the Paypal account you want to delete. Once in your account, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the window
- A drop-down menu will appear. Click “Account Settings”
- On the Account Settings page, click “Account Preferences” in the left-hand pane
- At the bottom of this page, you’ll see “Account Type.” This could be either “Personal” or “Business” depending on what you selected when creating the account. Either way, click the “Close Account” button to the right of the Account Type option
- After that, you’ll be asked why you want to delete your account. Tick any relevant boxes by clicking them, type any comments you want to leave in the text box, and then click “Continue”
- You also will be asked to confirm that you want to close your account and, depending on which boxes you checked in the previous step, will leave a specialized message trying to convince you to stay. If you’re sure you want to permanently delete your account, click “Continue”
- Your PayPal account and all data (including your transaction history) are now permanently deleted
If you deleted your Paypal account because it didn’t suit you, there are several alternatives, such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. They have already proven their effectiveness and convenience among many users. In addition, you can not only send and receive money, but you can also use them to pay for gas.
