How do I delete an America Online (AOL) Screen Name?

I want to set up a new America Online (AOL) screen name for myself, but the system's telling me that I already have the maximum number of screen names. How do I delete one so I can create a new one?

Dave's Answer:

This process is actually fairly similar to the steps needed to add a new screen name. Let's go through the steps, though, so you can see what I mean.

First off, log in to AOL and choose Account Settings --> Screen Names. This gets you to a screen that looks like this:

Notice on the right side, the list includes DELETE a Screen Name: that's what we want.

Click on the delete link and you'll promptly get:

Make sure this is really what you want to do then click Continue and select the screen name you want to delete. In this case I'm deleting Dave in Space:

Choose the right name, click Continue again, and a second or two later you'll see this final window:

That's all there is to it!

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Reader Comments To Date: 223

kayla said, on August 9, 2005 8:26 PM:

ok my mom deleted aol and i stil used my screen name so it charged her about 400$ i used it so much....i deleted the screen name(from aim) but now im worried that my friends will email me on that screen name and charge us more money...how do i delete that email adress without signing on that screen name, because we don't have aol anymore?

Dave Taylor said, on August 10, 2005 6:55 PM:

Kayla, if you shut down your AOL account and aren't logging in to it any more I don't see how they could be billing you any more. I'd call their customer service center if it's an ongoing problem...

craig said, on August 11, 2005 11:05 PM:

Your instructions seem simple, but WHERE do I find aol's "account settings" button to follow your simple steps.

thanks

Dave Taylor said, on August 12, 2005 3:39 AM:

Craig, on the Mac version of AOL, at least, the "Account Settings" is an option on one of the pull-down menus on the top menu bar. It's on the menu that has the name of the app (e.g., "AOL")

Joselin said, on August 16, 2005 11:23 PM:

my mom wants to delete the aol account but i dont aol right now im using aim and she dont no another way to delete the accounts what should she do please help me

Jaime said, on August 18, 2005 6:17 PM:

I would like to know how i get america online off of my account. I cannot pay for this service any longer.

Kara said, on August 23, 2005 6:49 AM:

ok, im not w/aol, but my friend is, and so, she can get extra e-mail accounts for free so she got me 1, cause i dont like what were with, and somehow it got deleted, so i cant log on anymore, but i can 4 IM, and i want to re-make that account, but i dont know how i can delete the IM account so i can do that

Billy said, on August 23, 2005 5:46 PM:

How do I get a deleted screen name off of my aol sign in drop down list?

Andy said, on August 24, 2005 10:16 PM:

How do i delete my dial in account on aol?

Sami said, on August 28, 2005 6:43 AM:

What if you have just plain AIM and you want to delete an unwanted screen name?

richard osborne said, on August 28, 2005 6:20 PM:

someone downloaded a free version of aol these are my computers and already have an account so when click on the icon for aol screen name drops down i have to be guest to get in i should be the only person to use it anyway. point this computer i had at home now part of network at office richard

missy said, on September 6, 2005 5:02 AM:

We recently closed our account with aol and wanted to know if there was any way to check any emails that might have been sent to my old account? thanks!

Dave Taylor said, on September 6, 2005 5:07 AM:

Unfortunately, once your account is closed, all your email vanishes unless you've copied it to your local mailbox.

Shawn said, on September 6, 2005 6:49 PM:

I signed up for a free web-based aol screen name. Later, I then opened a paid for account but couldn't use that screen name as it was "already taken", by me. So how do I delete this web-based screen name/account, so I can use it on my paid for account? What a stupid dilemma. Thanks!

Chris said, on September 21, 2005 9:58 PM:

I'm trying to delete a screen name. I have 2 besides of my primary. When I get to the section of delete a screen name,It's only showing that I have one,{not the primary}, but only one of the screen names. WHY?????

Jeff said, on September 26, 2005 11:45 AM:

OK i have a question ,,, how do i delete names from my AOL address book ,, u know how u go to write an email and type one letter and the whole email address pops up how do i clear that ?

Neel Kulkarni said, on October 3, 2005 4:04 AM:

I want to know how I can get rid of my AOL membership which is associated with screen name saeetek@aol.com

Brittany said, on October 4, 2005 6:39 PM:

How do I get rid of my AOL membership?

Reakoe said, on November 12, 2005 9:37 PM:

Hello I made up a screen name to get into "my space".Now I want to delete my "my space" but I can't because I need a e-mail they sent me under the made up screen name. What do I do?

Rich said, on November 23, 2005 6:20 PM:

How do I delete an AOL screen name? I read your delete AOL screen name and it says on the right side it says delete a screen name. this is not prescient. What should I do?

Regina Rutland said, on December 1, 2005 6:00 PM:

I want To deleted AOL

ruba said, on December 29, 2005 7:42 PM:

how do i delete an old scrrenname???

Kimberly said, on January 10, 2006 12:15 PM:

I want to delet my free aim mail account and get rid of this. I do not need this anymore. I now have a hotmail account. But I can not figure out how to delete this aim account. I need help.

marilyn williams said, on January 10, 2006 5:55 PM:

I recently deleted a screen name from my sign in screen. How do I verify that the name as been deleted from AOL or is it still acessible on the AOL website? If so, how can you delete it completely?

Elena said, on January 11, 2006 5:12 AM:

how do I delete screen names from my accnt and delete the email addresses? I don't want any extra charges if my daughter wants to try to get back into the screen names so I want to make them completely off my accnt. Also how do I set up passwords on the remaining accnts? I tried key wording setting and it takes me to this web site. When I go under the safety tab and click settings it gives me an error message. Please help

hannah said, on January 14, 2006 5:05 PM:

how can i add an additional aol account to my computer so that i dont' have to sign on as a "guest" everytime and delete my old aol account with out re-installing AOL.

brittany said, on January 19, 2006 8:08 PM:

ummm i want to delete my aol mail acount because i cant even send or recieve any mail from that name so how do i cancel it or watever??

Donna said, on January 21, 2006 3:55 PM:

How do I delete my free aim email account without deleting my aim screen name for instant messaging? Thanks for your help.

Laura said, on January 28, 2006 12:16 PM:

how do i delete my aim account?

Nick said, on January 28, 2006 2:24 PM:

When I try to delete a screen name I keep getting "There is a system problem". How do I fix that??

Dave Taylor said, on January 28, 2006 6:35 PM:

Laura, I have to admit that I haven't been able to figure out how to delete AIM accounts, even having poked around in the software and the AOL help. I'll try again, though.

Nick, sounds like you might want to try reinstalling the AOL software and deleting the screenname again?

Hal said, on January 30, 2006 6:11 PM:

I'm trying to delete a screen name. I have 6 besides of my primary. When I get to the section to delete a screen name,It's only showing that I have four,{not the primary}, The screen name I need to delete is not on the list. WHY?????
Typical computer problem for us dinasours that are old school. Thanks, Hal

Dave Taylor said, on January 30, 2006 11:29 PM:

Are you logged in as the master screen name, Hal? That might make a difference...

annie said, on February 7, 2006 10:05 PM:

Can I have 2 aol accounts on one computer for more screen name options if so how do i do that

rana said, on February 8, 2006 4:36 PM:

i want to delete my email how do i do that

Dave Taylor said, on February 8, 2006 5:16 PM:

Annie, yes, you can do that, you'd just sign in as 'guest' for the second account each time. Should work fine.

Rana, I'm not clear what you're asking. You can't delete your AOL email account without deleting your AOL account too.

ricky said, on February 9, 2006 6:36 PM:

im am sooo anoyed that i cant delete a AIM screen name please help me!!!!!!

thank you

ash a said, on February 15, 2006 11:46 AM:

i want to keep my screen name for aim but i don't want the aim email anymore...is there a way for me to delete the email and still keep the screen name???

Pete Thomas said, on February 18, 2006 9:28 AM:

How can I permantely delete an already deleted screen name from my computer? Where it does not show when I see recover screen name.

anthony said, on February 25, 2006 9:16 PM:

When I try to delete a screen name I keep getting "There is a system problem". How do I fix that??

Ed said, on February 27, 2006 12:59 AM:

Every time I click account settings and then screen names I get an error message that says "cannot find server" " action cancelled" This has been going on for 3 days and I have followed 5 different tips on how to correct it from AOL. Nothing works.....HELP

dawn cox said, on March 4, 2006 9:54 PM:

i want to delete my primary name, they say i can't, but if i went to another server i could do that, it would mean i would have to delete my account with aol. so what's so simple, i don't want to use the name anymore.

Nate said, on March 7, 2006 11:54 PM:

All I have with aol is an aim screen name. They made an email address for me without me doing anything or asking for it. How can I delete the email account while keeping my aim screen name? They can't force me to use services that I don't want, right?

Dave Taylor said, on March 8, 2006 8:08 AM:

You can't delete your AIM email account as far as I know, but you can ignore it. Just don't tell anyone you have it...

Jan said, on March 10, 2006 1:48 PM:

My husband and I are trying to delete screen names for children that have moved away from home and no longer use them. Each time we try, we get a message that that screen name has subscribed to something which blocks us from deleting the screen name. All of this could be avoided if they could only remember the passwords to those screen names but..... Please help!

taylor said, on March 11, 2006 11:46 AM:

what if you try to get a screen name and it does not work?

Hannah said, on March 15, 2006 6:31 PM:

Hi. Ok I really want a new screen name but my family and I already have the 7 spaces filled up and I have a screen name that i dont remember my password to that has all of my personal and important information in it. How do I find my password? PLEASE HELP IM DESPERATLY BEGGING YOU TO HHHEEELLLPPP!!!!!

Dave Taylor said, on March 15, 2006 9:22 PM:

Ah, another interesting variant on the "can you tell me my password" question, Hannah. Sorry for your dilemma, but I cannot help anyone find their password (or anyone elses, for that matter) on any system, and even if I could, I wouldn't offer such assistance. If you have a legitimate situation, call the vendor or service provider.

linds said, on March 16, 2006 1:52 PM:

how do u delete an aim screenname

Dave Taylor said, on March 16, 2006 10:09 PM:

Linds, you can't. I kid you not. I don't really understand WHY AOL hasn't implemented a 'delete AIM screenname' capability, but even the documentation states it just can't be done.

Matt said, on March 18, 2006 11:33 PM:

I was trying unsuccessfully to either delete the aim email account or hide it. This little mail box window just popped up one day on the upper-left corner of my screen and I have to close it each time I sign on. To my knowledge, I don't actually have an aim email account, but AOL wants me to click the box, sign in, and fill out the form to start it up. I have absolutely no interest in doing this and would just like to stop that little mail box from popping up whenever I sign on. Do you know of a way to do this???

lambert said, on March 23, 2006 4:30 PM:

I'm trying to get live help from aol and have not been successful.I'm trying to add another user to my account but i can't remember my password to my security question.How can i get this?What do i have to do?
thanks in advance

Dave Taylor said, on March 23, 2006 11:34 PM:

lambert, if you can't remember your password or security question, there's no way for AOL to properly verify that you're the owner of the account, so you're probably out of luck.

Clarence Quast said, on March 24, 2006 4:15 AM:

I removed yahoo screen toolbar but the next morning it was back again. How can I get rid of it?

Thanks,

Clarence

Peter said, on March 26, 2006 11:35 PM:

Hi, I made a screename with AIM, but now I want to make it with AOL since it will have my e-mail with ...@aol.com instead of ...@aim.com. Also, I can't sign on AOL with an AIM screename but it's not vice versa since my other screenames are AOL-made but can go on AIM. Is there anyway i can "move" that screename from AIM to AOL since I can't make that screename again with AOL? Thank You.

Lou said, on March 28, 2006 6:24 PM:

For some reason AOL gave me a free e-mail account. I do not use this account nor do I want it but it annoys me everytime I sign on AIM. How do I delete or get rid of this e-mail account without deleting my AIM screen name? Thanks for your help.

Lou

Amy Levi said, on April 8, 2006 9:45 AM:

i fill out 1 survey. now i get like 50-125 e-mails daily. i hate that. please help me!!

James said, on April 13, 2006 11:26 AM:

I want to delete bailbond51 from AIM

george w zuo said, on April 16, 2006 11:23 AM:

I've followed all steps shown for to change my aol screen name / e-mail address but it's not working. I don,t like the screen name "zuogeorgewzuo1", I only need georgewzuo1.

Alessia said, on April 18, 2006 11:08 PM:

Hi Dave, I hope you can help me...I've tried just about everything.
For the past 2 months I haven't been able to delete any screens on my AOL account, and yes I know the the primary screen name cannot be deleted, it's the others that I can't delete.
I go through the proper steps that I've done in the past and when I get to the second page where I would usually click on delete or cancel, only the cancel button is outlined, blue and clickable. The delete button is outlined but not clickable, the sentence written there just runs over it, in fact if I highlight the page its not visible at all but the cancel button is left out and not highlighted.
I hope you understand what I just wrote..lol
I've called aol and nothing worked, I even asked around on the aol help message boards and nothing worked that was suggested there.
Hopefully, maybe you can help me.
Thanks, Alessia

solomon said, on April 19, 2006 9:07 PM:

could not delete a usser name from the list

Maya said, on April 25, 2006 12:22 PM:

how do i delete an AIM sn

Gary Dashnaw said, on May 2, 2006 8:52 PM:

I am trying to delete one of the screen names on my account, "topekanude". Everytime I try to access the right tools to do this, I run into a "roadblock". It's very important I get this screen name deleted from my account. HELP!

Xan said, on May 5, 2006 8:08 PM:

Im trying to delete a screen name from my Master SN but it keeps saying "System Error"!

How can i fix this!?

Pls Email me or Reply here!

thx!

Daniel Waqar said, on May 5, 2006 10:44 PM:

sooo...
i have to sign on to my master screen name to get this service, right.
i am trying to change my screen name
as u can c, it really sucks
i didnt even want it
well, i hope what u say works, dave taylor
thanks!

daniel said, on May 6, 2006 5:04 PM:

yeah...
i followed your instructions on "how to delete an AOL screen name"
one thing
i cant select settings, then screen names
i have even tried to do this from my master screen name, and it hasnt worked
ive done everything i possibly can
i have the max amount of screen names--7
i want to delete mine and make a new one
can you please help me
email-dud3wh3r3zmycar@aol.com

yaya said, on May 9, 2006 10:10 PM:

i want to delete my e-mail address but not my sn...how do I do that!?

Lynn said, on May 11, 2006 11:46 AM:

How do I change a screen name on my aol account? I understand I cannot change the screen name on the master account. This is one of the other screen names. I have a limited usage account and only access AOL for email. I have PeoplePC as my isp. HELP!!!!!!

chris said, on May 18, 2006 2:29 PM:

please how do i delete e-mail acount i never use it only aim messager

mw1hamilton said, on May 19, 2006 6:32 AM:

can't change screen name from guest to mw1hamilton

Teresa said, on May 25, 2006 5:53 PM:

I want to delete my account, but I can't figure out how.

Shavonna said, on June 6, 2006 1:58 PM:

Well look i just got this new account with aol and im kind of having a problem. I dont want my old account which is sheadababigurl04 and i dont know how to delete it. I get my mail through the aol main page not acutally the AOL it self because i have road runner so how can i delete my old account.

jimi said, on June 12, 2006 7:42 AM:

i would like to delete aim, i don't like the aim messager. could any one help me to gelete it thank you

jimi said, on June 12, 2006 7:42 AM:

i would like to delete aim, i don't like the aim messager. could any one help me to gelete it thank you

Colby said, on June 15, 2006 6:44 AM:

I have windows98 and on my aol, I can not find any account settings...

thx, if you can tell me where it would be found...

DEBORAH STANLEY said, on June 16, 2006 9:03 AM:

why isn't there a way to block access to my address book before signing into aol in another computer.

desiree said, on June 17, 2006 6:20 PM:

igo to aol and i dont see account settings

chardnea said, on June 26, 2006 9:41 PM:

how do delete my acount fast and just to colm me down is this acount free

man said, on June 27, 2006 1:41 AM:

how do i delete a screenname on aim and not aol.... i have a aim sn that need to be deleted ... but i dont kno where to delete it from...

Rodger Monk said, on July 1, 2006 7:19 PM:

how can I set my delete names NOT to ask ..are you sure you want to erase this...it takes double to ..click delete and then..answer yes....

thanks
RDM

bob said, on July 11, 2006 8:04 AM:

when i go to settings then to screen names the page will never load and in the bottom right corner there is a little lock thats yellow so how can i get through to that page to delete a screen name?

sarah said, on July 13, 2006 9:29 AM:

ok im just trying to delete a few sns and it is so not easy. but WHERE do I find aol's "account settings" button to follow your simple steps.

sarah said, on July 14, 2006 5:16 PM:

I have an AIM account and it's been "bugged" and i don't know how to delete it!

Lydia said, on July 17, 2006 12:02 AM:

Well, i got an AOL screen name wich i got for the AIM instant messenger. But it also came with an AOL email address that i didnt want. Is there any way i can delete that account a get a new one that DOSNT come with an email address?

Patrine said, on July 19, 2006 11:14 AM:

How do I delete my free AIM mail without deleting my free AIM screen name? I have another internet provider. All I want is AOL Instant Messenger w/o AIM Mail. Thanking you in advance.

Luis Rueda Jr. said, on July 19, 2006 9:00 PM:

I used to have AOL but cancelled it. I still have an AOL AIM e-mail address and would like to delete it. How do I do that? I have e-mail flowing to my AIM e-mail address and do not want that to happen.

I need to delete my AIM e-mail address.

Georgie said, on July 26, 2006 10:15 AM:

i do not know the master account password on AOL, because I'm at boarding school, so how can I delete my screen name without going on the master account????

georgie said, on July 26, 2006 10:15 AM:

i do not know the master account password on AOL, because I'm at boarding school, so how can I delete my screen name without going on the master account????

jessica said, on August 2, 2006 8:20 PM:

i already knew how to delete/add screennames.. but when i click 'screen names' on the settings page, it goes to an error window that says 'no page to be displayed'. so i tried clicking 'help'.. it brought me to the same thing. what is going on?

Tiana said, on August 7, 2006 7:50 PM:

I donn't want my home page to be Aol and I don't want an Aol email just the AIM. So email me steps to do that. Thanks!

tina said, on August 10, 2006 2:44 PM:

get my mom screenname back on

tina said, on August 10, 2006 2:45 PM:

get my mom screenname back on

liz said, on August 14, 2006 3:21 PM:

i cannot figure out how to delete my screen name. Im becoming more irritated every day. i have about 6 accounts and i have to get rid of it. someone please help me!!!!!

Meme said, on August 31, 2006 1:58 PM:

Yes omgosh I really really want to delete my screen name but it wont work can you please help me? Please!

ashley Aiello said, on September 2, 2006 11:51 AM:

i want to erase an aol account but i cant find account settings to erase it. where can i find it?

Buff said, on September 5, 2006 6:35 PM:

Every time I try to do something with screen names, beit create one, delete one or whatever, I get a small thing asking what my pet's name is, but I don't remember filling anything out answering this....and even when I correctly put in what my pet's name is, it still doesn't work then doesnt' allow me to do anything...it didn't used to be this way. I could just change names, delete names, create names, whatever I wanted. What the heck do I do??!!!

nicole said, on September 25, 2006 7:10 PM:

i can not seem to add on another screen name. the account settings is saying that this feature is unavailable.

Bobbi Laird said, on October 4, 2006 1:14 PM:

I have tried for over two months to delete a screenname and create a new one. It didn't let me. I was paying $14.95 at the time. I call them AOL Tech HelpLESS.. anyway, now I'm a free member, but I still cannot delete or create a new screenname, and yes I am the master screenname. What gives? AOL should be getting a really bad rep for taking so long to fix this problem. Anyone else having a problem with this? I've done this several times before, I know how. It's just not working now, for over two months. Please advise?

valarie said, on October 10, 2006 8:41 PM:

When I try to delete a screen name that isn't the master screen name the only thing that comes up when I click on settings then screen name is.... to customise your master s/n or change or edit it. I have never seen this screen before and have deleted names several times. This is nnot the same screen. How do I delete the s/n?

bev said, on October 21, 2006 9:30 AM:

Your instructions seem simple, but WHERE do I find aol's "account settings" button to follow your simple steps.

thanks

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

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How do I delete an America Online (AOL) Screen Name?

Reader Comments To Date: 223

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