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How do I delete my AIM Screenname?I'm not using Aol, i'm using Aim. How do I delete my AIM screenname from the AIM program and system? Believe it or not, you cannot delete AIM screen names from the America Online (AOL) computer system. AOL says this in their help system: "Q: Can I delete one of my old AIM screen names? A: No, you cannot delete old AIM screen names at this time." They do offer useful advice on ensuring that others cannot find your screenname, however. Let me show you both the Mac and PC solutions, Mac first: Start up AIM and then click on AIM --> Edit Profile and make sure that it's blank: ![]() On the PC, you'll want to do something a bit different. You'll need to go to Edit --> Edit My Contact Info.... Hopefully, you'll see this: ![]() You'll notice that it's not an issue for me because I refuse to set up my address book "powered by Plaxo" and am pretty appalled that AOL made the decision to take something simple and make it so darn complex. My advice: You shouldn't set up your Plaxo address book either. If you haven't, you're in good shape and that screen name should be impossible to find. If you're running earlier versions of AIM, then your Mac instructions might be thus: Edit --> Preferences, then click on the Controls tab and choose "Nothing About Me". Older Windows versions of AIM have a similar preference you can specify by going to My Options --> Edit Preferences, then click on the Controls tab. That should make the undesired AIM screen name it essentially invisible. Another step you might want to take is to delete that screen name from your AIM program itself. According to AOL, you can do that in Windows by selecting the screenname and pressing the DELETE key. On a Mac you should be able to choose "Delete Name..." from the screen name drop-down list: ![]() It's still rather amazing to me that you can't just delete AIM screen names properly, even with the latest version of AIM, but I presume there's some logical explanation. We just don't know what it is. :-)
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Computer and Internet Basics
(Article 6011,
Written by Dave Taylor)
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how do i delete how can i get someones screen name if it won't CAN I TELL IF SOMEONE IS JUST INVISIBLE OR REALLY ONLINE Posted by: SUE at June 2, 2006 8:01 PMLISTEN I want to keep funsizedhannah23 but my little sister wants her s/n deleted for good. on my AOL profile .. it says that I have AIM but i never ever signed up for AIM. How do I keep it from showing that? Posted by: teen at June 30, 2006 4:37 PMI have tried various ways to get my AIM screen name erased permanently and it is impossible. Any email sent to one of their contact email addresess, they blatantly ignore. I bet I know the reason they won't let you delete it. It's probably so it looks like they have a huge number of 'active' accounts for marketing purposes. There is no reason for them not to have the ability to be able to delete your screenname. This is typical vintage AOL. Thankfully I have never been an AOL subscriber as we all know how hard it is to cancel even an account for which you are paying for! Of course some may say, why all the fuss? When I no longer have any use for an account, I expect it to be deleted for security. While other places may not have an account removal button, quite often they will do so on request to the admin, so why not AOL? Posted by: DontWantAim at July 8, 2006 10:51 AMi am so mad that you cannot delete your screen nmae and get another on, and that if you're not a member of aim, that you can't have more than one screen nmae on aim. Posted by: Susie at July 12, 2006 4:43 PMThere is actually a way delete AIM screen names from the central AIM authentication servers. To do this you would have to get a leaked AIM developer client from sonewhere. I know these still float around on various P2P networks but I can't recall the name of the program (it has some kind of weird code name). Posted by: Someone at July 16, 2006 11:27 AMDelete it by uninstalling the software from the uninstaller within the program folder and let it time out unused for 90 days, or else deliberately violate the terms of service until they kill the account. Repeatedly report your deathwished username to the AOL fortress of doom for trying to recruit your funky fresh username into Hezbollah. If for some reason you have two accounts and want to keep one of them, note your username, password, and any contacts you want to keep, then remove all AOL and AIM software from your computer. Install Trillian and set up an AIM account with the username that you want to keep. Notify your contacts to delete the old user name, aside from the stalker you got by naming yourself tittybuns14. Posted by: sgt_stadanko at August 10, 2006 7:26 PMThey there folks. If you are looking to remove/delete a screen name from the AIM client sign-on list then I have a solution for Windows users. Open your run command line and then type "regedit" using the find feature, I use ctrl-F, search for the screen name you would like to remove from the list. Then delete every entry in your registry with that name. You want to be abosultely certain that you delete all instances of the name. Pay close attention to AIM/Users folders/keys, there should be a folder/key with the title of the screen name you want to remove. Removing this folder from the registry will remove the screen name from your computer, the rest is clean up. Happy hunting! Posted by: This Guy at September 5, 2006 10:50 AMWhat is everyone here complaining about. AOL does not let people randomly change screenames whenever they want, that is the point. So people do not get confused when someone across the country has your screename because you gave it up. What if everyone in the US changed phone numbers whenever they wanted. Its not logical. Also, after 6 months of inactivity, screenames are deleted from the AIM service completely. I hope this made some sense or helped someone. Posted by: Brad at October 2, 2006 9:38 PMHOW DO I DELETE MY AIM EMAIL ACCOUNT?!!?? Posted by: bully at October 4, 2006 7:09 PMIt seems the period they keep the screenname reserved (a euphemism for not deleting the account) is now 12 months. It keeps getting longer. First it was 90 days then 6 months, and now 12 months. At this rate, it will soon be permanent. Here is the source of the info: http://help.channels.aol.com/kjump.adp?articleId=219171 Brad, I agree to the part about not allowing reuse of a name for a period of time so it does not get reused too soon, but they don't need to keep the account active for that. That is the part I have the problem with. My concern is that they leave the accounts active for 12 months which means it could be hacked into and people would think it is you. Ok you can clear out personal details, but the name may still be associated with you still. They should have the ability to deactivate an account until reuse. It's like having a credit card lying around in a drawer somewhere that you forgot about. It's still active and the account could be used nefariously without you being aware of it. Posted by: DontWantAim at October 5, 2006 8:45 AMSOMEONE KEEPS GETTIN ON MY OLD SCREEN NAME && TRYING TO MAKE MY LIFE HELL I WOULD LOVE TO GET IT DELETED! Posted by: ashley at October 22, 2006 1:49 PMis there anyway of delteting an old AIM screen name. someones been going on my screen name continuosly and harrasing my friends. can you please delete these 2 screen names. xoxjennxox13 and xohazeleyesxo92. pleaseee Posted by: Jenn at November 7, 2006 11:04 AMhow can i delete saved screen names from the sign in screen? Posted by: Brian at November 29, 2006 5:26 PMWhen I try to sign in to my aim email, it says, invalid password. I tried to change the password, and it said it worked and there would be a confirmation email sent to my other email address, but that didn't happen, and the new password didn't work either. I'm afraid someone is now reading my email and getting all my info, and, as I see is a common problem, I can't delete the screename, either. And no way to get help. Isn't there anyone out there who can help me??? AAAAGGGG!!!!! Posted by: Meg at December 1, 2006 4:50 PMi have this wierd person that has been using my aim without permission if i wanted that person to stop how can I Posted by: Average azn at December 1, 2006 10:41 PMMr. I want to delete my screen name but it won't let me ! Please I have AOL and AIM and it's the AOL screen name but won't delete it from AIM ! PLEASE, Mr. , HELP ! DontWantAim - PEOPLE - PLEASE!!! DID YOU NOT READ THE VERY FIRST ARTICLE ON THIS PAGE BEFORE ASKING YOUR QUESTIONS??? You learned how to read for a reason - it's amazing the things you learn when you actually APPLY this very valuable skill!! STOP ASKING IF YOU CAN DELETE YOUR AIM SCREEN NAME!!!! The man said you CAN'T!!!! Read the article and learn that! Stop asking how you can do it when the answer is sitting right there in front of your supposedly educated faces!! Posted by: Literate NJ Girl at December 30, 2006 11:57 AMAverage AZN - try changing your password for AIM so someone else can't use the account with the password they apparently know. If they continue using it, then you have to assume that someone has access to your computer and can either read your keystrokes as you type to learn your passwords or another way of pulling information from your computer. That will require professional help to locate and delete the offending program they installed without your knowledge. My daughter had to have her hard drive reformatted and all programs reinstalled because someone took control of her computer and began harassing her and threatening her, keying messages to her as soon as they knew she'd logged on. She could do nothing and the police said it wasn't their problem, so she had the hard drive completely reformatted. No problems since. (If you live in Ogden UT, don't expect the police to do much of anything to help you, especially if you're female.) Posted by: JerZGirl at December 30, 2006 12:08 PMhi i wanna create another screen name, but i wanted to transfer my buddies over to my new screen name that i have not created yet....how do i do that? please answer me soon i will appreciate it if you answer my question. *~NYCindian4eva*~ Posted by: nycindian4eva at January 20, 2007 2:50 PMthere is NO way 2 delete ya AIM screename but even if u dont delete it u can still get a new one, u MIGHT jus have 2 create another e-mail address Posted by: isis at February 2, 2007 2:02 PMWindows users can edit the registry to remove unwnated users: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\America Online\AIM6 i want to make a new sn but is there a way to transfer all of my buddies to my new sn??? Posted by: allnet3sting at February 18, 2007 6:26 PMi have a s/n aim nD i want 2 cancel it how dO i dO dat? Posted by: Lc at February 23, 2007 10:43 AMI WANTO DELETE AIM PERMANENTLY HOW COME I CANNOT I JUST WANT AOL Posted by: BERYL at February 27, 2007 7:10 AMok i have a question. ok my niece did a aim screen name right, and she sign in into my aol account as a guess and she gets through , why when i created a aim screen name and i sign in as a guess in my aol account it doesnt go through Posted by: myra at March 1, 2007 7:41 AMSOMEONE FOUND OUT MY PASSWORD AND CAN U PLZ DELTE IT? THE PERSON KEEPS GOING ON IT AND THEY CAUS EME SO MUCH DRAMA! PLEASE DELETE THIS SCREEN NAME: ALLabOuT BEACHx5 Posted by: mollie at March 15, 2007 11:05 AMUm I'm sorry to bother you Sir,but I made my AIM account for a friend. But that friend and I are no longer friends. Can you please delete my AIM Account?? And I won't bother you again. Posted by: Zo Zo at March 15, 2007 11:27 AMcan u delete my aim sceen name its causing conflict between me and my boyfriend so can u do it for me cuz it wont let me i just want it gone Posted by: love at March 19, 2007 1:06 PMPlease respond by email as I might not be able to find this page again. A long time friend split up with his "girl friend" duing the xmas holidays. She did not let him have his computer back, along with some other personal property. They shared the same computer, using her AOL account but having him as another user. I recently received an email, knowing my friend does not have a computer... how can I report her to aol? The site does not offer any help. TIA Posted by: Sue at March 19, 2007 4:10 PMthis girl that i dont even know keep's getting on my old s/n's and putting stuff in my profile and because of her i'm always fighting with my b/f how do i delete these s/n's so all this can stop? she's making my life hell Posted by: rachel at May 8, 2007 5:15 PMi think that aim is bullS***....i mean come on i just got my computer moved outta my room and i can't have my parents finding aim! i barely ever talk on it anyway so what is the big Fn deal?...geez.....i think im gonna get netscape Posted by: Kristy at June 4, 2007 11:48 AMhey i have a screens names and i want to get a new 1 so how do i delete them and i am get going to a new 1 if i can delete my 2 screen names Posted by: micheala at June 29, 2007 9:24 PMhow do u change the information on your screen name so stalkers wont find who you are... Posted by: armohottie07 at July 13, 2007 1:38 PMI forgot the answer to my security question on my aim screen name i want to change my password but i need to have the answer in order to.. please help so many people are bringing me own! Posted by: ana at July 25, 2007 9:49 PMthere should be an option to delete names that are no longer desire, so therefore, other people will have the option of using them. Posted by: wheely at October 4, 2007 1:19 AMOk.. my problem is this.. I have a aim name and someone got the password to it... I have changed the password and for aim it is fine it changed, but when i log into aim mail I still have to use the old password that someone else also has and its making things very difficult. I have changed the password from aim mail more than once, yet everytime i go to sign back in i still have to use the old password that i want changed... Why are the passwords different?? I dont understand what is going on.. HELP Posted by: Jackie at October 4, 2007 2:38 PMTHIS IS WHY HELP pages are created! Cancel Your Free Member Account If you would like to cancel your free account, we are happy to help you. We hope you've enjoyed being an AOL member and look forward to helping you again in the future. To cancel your free member account: Note: If you do not check the box, we will not be able to process your request. If you're faxing or mailing your request, please return your completed form to one of the following: * USPS Mail: AOL LLC, PO Box 65100, Sterling, VA 20165-8800 Notes: * In order to process your request, all numbered fields on the form must be completed. To speak with one of our Member Services Representatives who can help you with your request, please call us toll-free at 1-888-265-8008. Posted by: Nunya at October 17, 2007 7:19 PMhow can you tell if someone is invislible on AIM i need to know!!! Posted by: Faith at October 25, 2007 4:23 PMI find it amusing that this forum begins with a caveat from the forum owner... "It's still rather amazing to me that you can't just delete AIM screen names properly, even with the latest version of AIM, but I presume there's some logical explanation. We just don't know what it is. :-)" It's pretty pathetic that this forum owner doesn't have the gonads to 'fess up to the fact that once AOL has you by the short hairs... well, you're basically theirs for the raping. I'm finding it hard to believe that the gross lack of ethics that surrounds a service like AOL that won't let you expunge your personal info that they misled you into providing is something that can be glossed over by a forum like this with a stupid caveat like (again) "but I presume there's some logical explanation. We just don't know what it is. :-)" Dream on, dude. I have six old screen names that I want to delete. hi dave i have an aim and i need to delete it.to create a new one on www.aim.com can you please help me Posted by: celia at December 31, 2007 7:45 AMThe whole 12 months expiration day is not true. I didn't login to my AIM account for the 3 years that I was in High School and then one day I tried to login and it was still active. Posted by: DonQ at January 16, 2008 10:37 PMI have friend that want to delet that aim too but she does now how to do this the one she want to delet it lovelucy10 and other is lucindagetscrazy she really want to delete it so badly and this one two okay lucindahor she want delete all of them please can you help me. i need to delete my old screen name! please! please how do i? can u make it so we can delete it now?! please!!!!!!! Posted by: mari at March 18, 2008 5:46 PMHwo Do I Cancel My Screen Name? Posted by: niki at May 15, 2008 1:40 PMHow can i delete my old screen name account?!!? I want to get rid of it! Posted by: Brittany at May 25, 2008 6:55 PMCan you please help me. I have four screen names and i want to get rid of them. Is there any way I can cancel it, or delete it? If I can't do that, how do I get rid of the screen name on the drop down box? Posted by: Jocelyn at June 16, 2008 8:14 AMhey dave i made a aim cause i was being stupid cause i didnt ask my parents and now i need to askl them and when i do there probally going to b there when i do it so now plz tell me how to delte my profile plz tht wil help so much Posted by: a stupid person at July 16, 2008 9:46 AMi wish i knew why they wouldent let you delete it...tht's pretty gay dont ya think?...lol by the way i got ohhdee sn's...so much that i cant remember the passwords to them...exept the one im using now...n it would just be easier if ic an delete the ones i dont use anymore...i say they should make an update or something...if the owner of this site gets this comment then please send it to the owner of aolor there email...i have another question...u know how u can link screen names and switch between them on the same buddy list window? well yea i did that and i dont know how to get it away..cuz the reason i did it was to copy the screen names from one sn to the other withought sighing on and off n copying them..if u know how to stop this or get rid of the other screen name please email or IM me at SeeMyGunRun Posted by: nick at July 23, 2008 12:20 AMI love aim, BUT i have two aim's i have one tht has so much junk mail and i have tried SOOOO HARD to delete the coount but i have no idea how. and now im having a problem tht somene is getting on my email account and i would LOVE to know how to dlete my lhfreak account! PLEASE TELL ME INFORMATION I KNOW! Posted by: krissy at July 29, 2008 2:12 PMhow can i delete my screen name? rsvp Posted by: anthony at August 27, 2008 4:12 PMi just downloaded windows vista ..which now erased my old s/n on aim.. i cant seem to download the regular aim n it wont show me my buddy list or anything..i really need this as my daughter just left for college n this right now is my only way to communicate with her..could you please tell me what i have to do to get aim ..along with my old s/n and to show my buddy list..thanks Posted by: linda at September 3, 2008 9:35 PMsomeone keeps hacking onto my aim screenname. can someone please delete it for me? they are saying nasty things that arent true about me and it is really hurting me. thank you. ps- my aim account is jhterp1018, pleaseeeee delete it!!!! Posted by: Jo at September 6, 2008 2:21 PMone of my friends created me a aim account and i want it gone because i'm afraid my parents might find it. PLEASE DELETE MY AIM ACCOUNT!! i don't want it. broknskellakitty is the name of it. Posted by: jenny at September 6, 2008 8:24 PMThe aol/aim help boards appear to be flooded by people wanting to perm. delete their screen names and info. It also seems like screen names inactive for more than a year are not always deleted. Time for changes AOL, you're making your customers mad. Posted by: Samantha at September 23, 2008 11:08 PMSOME ONE KEEPS GETTING INTO MY OLD SCREEN NAME AND PRETENDING TO BE ME!!!! ITS MAKING EVERYTHING COMPLICATED!!! HOW DO I GET RID OF IT??? PLEASEEE I NEED HELP ASAP!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I AM BEGGING FOR YOUR HELP!!! Posted by: sandy at September 25, 2008 4:39 PMi made an aim screen name which is tathyyy do have any suggestion besides making another account? Posted by: tathyane at October 13, 2008 3:18 PMsomeone keeps hacking on my friends aim account and i rly want it to stop!cuz they are making her life really hard please help and she can't change her password b/c her alternative e-mail was erased!!!!!!!! Posted by: jen at November 4, 2008 7:07 PMdudee.how do i delete my aim profile.?not my aim screen name but the profile because a lot of people are adding me and its getting relle annoying.and aim profiles are gay ! Posted by: erynn(: at November 26, 2008 3:19 PMhey man i dont even have aol hey hi im.. wondering how do i delte and aim account i want to delte it but idk how cuase some screen names were made on aol... so please get back to me i really need to delte a screen name its really inportant to get back at me .. Posted by: annoyumus at December 28, 2008 11:52 PMhow do i delete my screename Posted by: mason at January 24, 2009 7:15 PMIs there any way I can delete a free aim account? I go to names.aol.com it says i can't delete my account from what i understand Posted by: mike at January 30, 2009 3:35 PMhurry i want to delete because someone hijacked in my screenname few times. how ? Posted by: Kimberly at March 19, 2009 4:00 PMfor all you people who think that you cant have more than one aim screen name you are wrong. i have 3 aim names you just go to aim.com and click get a screen name and for the email you put your old screen name in with a (@aol.com) after it, it works Posted by: katie at April 15, 2009 10:11 AMi want to be send for people my name is chantaye i am deaf i can help do you know experience for myspace too what new screenname and new password for myspace. Posted by: chantaye at May 11, 2009 4:57 PMu cant delete ur sn....if u delete it, ur friends r still gonna have ur sn on their buddies list, and if someone creates another account like urs with the same name then ur friends r gonna think its u Posted by: Michael Nguyen at May 29, 2009 12:32 AMthis guy who i really hate for many reasons keeps getting on my aim and changing my password! i made a new profile that he doesnt kno about but that really dosent help much if i cant delete my old profile. and plus on my old aim profile this gut keeps writing terrible stuff on my buddy info and telling ppl bad stuff this guys making my life hell i just wanna say that aim is pretty stupid if u cant delete an old screen name Posted by: terrifictom at June 28, 2009 1:15 PMPC TIP: AOL method not working for you? Try this. Make sure the name you want to delete is selected. Then UNcheck the boxes next to "Remember Me", "Save Password", "Auto sign in" and "Sign in as invisible". THEN hit the Delete key. The name should now be gone from the sign-in list. I hope this helps someone else. It was driving me nuts! Posted by: Barb at July 8, 2009 9:24 AMOkay people. I dont understand why you want to delete your aim account anyways. If you dont want to use it then dont use it. You can always make a new account without having to worry about your previous account. there is also the feature of LINKING your accounts. So if you would like to use both of your names at the same time you can! there is no purpose of you deleting your account. Just Ignore it. I have literally 10 different AIM accounts and i only use one. So Just learn how to read. You can't delete your account and they probably will never allow you to have the ability to do so. :\ Posted by: prettygiirlsilly at October 2, 2009 3:40 PMi dontaim like my Posted by: juan at November 6, 2009 7:50 PMi want to make another acount please Posted by: psychomurderer7 at December 12, 2009 11:43 AMall of you people want to delete your accounts because you want a new one, right? well think about me! my account got hackedd and keeps sending all my contacts weird messages. i NEED to delete it!!!!!!!!! i think it deletes if you dont use it for a while, so ill try that, but if anyone knows a faster way, tell me please! i need to no how to delete my accoount because i keep getting all these weird messages from websites i have never heard of please help asap i have an old screen name and i cant remember my password or my registered email i gave in the first time so im trying to get in to my aim and i cant so plz help me n respond back asap!!! dude man! im sooooo mad! kan u please delete my screenname! pleaseee. i kant have it anymore, its annoying the mess out of me. its causing me extreme problems to the point where imgoing to get killed, its causing problems, imscared to go to school! please delete this s/n, ikeep changing my password. the person keeps signing on and starting so much. imso scared! delete it please! Posted by: jazmin at April 24, 2010 2:20 PMI already have another account. Posted by: Rokeha at May 1, 2010 1:39 PMif u can please delet my facebok name please remove my name from facebok sites Posted by: Palwasha.hayatzaei at May 9, 2010 4:56 PMTHE ABOVE SCREENAME IS THE ONE I WANT REMOVED. I HAVE A VERIZON/AOL SETUP WHICH UTILIZES THE VERISON BROADBAND AND I THOUGHT I WOULD NEED A SCREENAME WITH VERIZON. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT I CAN AND SHOULD DELETE THIS VERIZON SCREENAME BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THIS. I WISH TO CONTINUE THE BROADBAND. THANK YOU Posted by: MARY K KELLY at April 16, 2011 2:43 PMmake sure my facebok friend are deleted Posted by: rinki at June 9, 2011 4:51 AMActually, you can delete your account! (as of 2011) I did it before! 1. Open the My Account page at Cancel.AOL.com in your Web browser. 2. Sign in with your AIM account's screen name and password. 3. Provide the answer to your AIM account's security question to log in. 4. Click the "Cancel" link at the lower right corner of the Manage My Services & Subscriptions page. 5. Click the drop-down box under Please Select Your Reason for Canceling This Service and select a reason by clicking it in the list. 6. Click the "Cancel AOL" button at the bottom of the page. Posted by: Torii at September 2, 2011 8:08 AMI have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!
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