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Deleting a period tracking app from your phone does not delete the data the company holds about you. If the app had an account, a copy of your cycle history almost certainly still sits on a server, and dragging the icon to the bin changes nothing about it. This post covers the actual steps for the major apps, the difference between closing an account and erasing data — which are frequently not the same thing — and how to make a formal request when the in-app option isn't enough.
Deleting the app does not delete your data
If an app asked you to create an account, it did that so your data could live somewhere other than your phone — that's what makes it recoverable when you switch devices. That "somewhere" is a server the company controls, and uninstalling the app removes the client, not the copy.
So the thing you actually want is one of three actions:
- An in-app delete — a "delete account" button in settings. Usually the fastest and, in most apps, the one that erases the data too.
- An account closure handled by support — where the button doesn't exist or doesn't work, and a person processes it for you.
- A written request — a formal data deletion request sent to the company's privacy contact, which is the fallback when neither of the above is available.
These are not interchangeable, and the wording matters: some apps treat "close my account" and "erase my data" as separate operations with different outcomes. Worth checking per app rather than assuming, which is what the next section does.
Before you delete: export what you want to keep
Do this first. Deletion is generally irreversible, and cycle history is genuinely worth keeping — it takes years to rebuild, and it's the sort of thing a clinician may ask you about.
Look for an export or download option in the app's settings. Most major apps have one, and the file usually arrives as JSON (machine-readable, best for importing elsewhere) or plain text (easier to read yourself). Some apps email a download link rather than saving the file directly, and those links often expire.
If there's no export at all, a set of screenshots of your calendar view is a crude but perfectly valid fallback. It's not structured data, but it beats losing the record entirely. Save whatever you export somewhere that isn't the phone you're about to change apps on.
Step by step, app by app
Each of these is drawn from the app's own current help documentation, linked so you can check it yourself.
Flo
Open Flo, tap your avatar to reach the menu, tap Privacy settings, then Delete account and follow the prompts. Flo's help centre states plainly that this is irreversible and that all your data will be permanently removed — so account and data go together here. If the in-app route fails, you can reach support through the menu (avatar → Help → Contact us).
Two things worth knowing. Flo asks you to request a copy of your data before deleting, because afterwards it's gone; the export process is a support request from inside the app, and the file comes as TXT or JSON. And if your goal is privacy rather than leaving, Flo offers an Anonymous Mode that unlinks your name, email and technical identifiers from your health data — a middle option, not a substitute for deletion.
Source: How can I delete my account? — Flo
Clue
Clue routes deletion through its in-app support section: open the More Menu (the ≡ in the top-right of your Cycle View), tap Support, then Account Questions, scroll down to "How do I delete my account?", enter your password and tap Delete account.
Clue is explicit that deleting the account is what permanently deletes the data — there's no data-only option, and you can't reactivate afterwards or recover what you tracked. Two practical snags: if you have a running Clue Plus subscription you need to cancel it before deleting, and if you signed up with Google, Facebook or an Apple masked email you may not have a password set, in which case you'll need to reset it first.
To export beforehand: More Menu → Settings → Download my data → Request data. Clue shows you a one-off password on screen, then emails a download link that expires after 72 hours; the file is a password-protected zip containing JSON.
Sources: How can I delete my Clue account? · In what ways can I manage my Clue data? · How do I get a copy of my Clue data?
Natural Cycles
In the app: top menu → My account → Delete account. You'll be walked through confirmation steps and asked for your password or Face ID. You can also ask their Customer Care team to do it instead.
Natural Cycles states that deletion is permanent and that neither the account nor any logged data can be restored. Two caveats they flag: if you subscribed through the App Store, cancel that from your phone's settings first so it doesn't renew, and note that deleting ends your access immediately even if you have paid time remaining.
There's also a middle option if you're unsure. Rather than deleting, you can revoke app consent at top menu → Settings → Consent and permissions by unchecking the top checkbox, which keeps your data saved but anonymised so it isn't used in their studies. Separately, they state that accounts inactive for more than three years are deleted automatically.
Source: How to delete your Natural Cycles account
Ovia
In the app: More → Settings → "reset or delete my account" → "delete my account". You can also email support@oviahealth.com to request it.
Ovia publishes the clearest timeline of the apps here. Your principal database entry is deleted immediately after a self-serve request, or within 24 hours of a support specialist acknowledging an emailed one. Historical data in their principal backups is then cleared automatically, no later than 35 days after the primary deletion. They also note that data in secondary systems — support and coaching databases, and some enterprise member files — may be retained for longer.
Two documented exceptions: anything you posted publicly in Ovia's community, chat or social features is not removed by a deletion request, and if you consented to a research study, deletion may be delayed until that study completes.
Sources: Account deletion — Ovia · How Ovia responds to data requests
Glow
Open the More page on iOS or the side bar on Android, go to Settings, and scroll to the bottom for Delete Account — on iOS it sits beneath the Log Out button. Glow states that deleting your account wipes your account data from their system and that it cannot be restored or recovered, so download anything you need first. Glow Baby owners on Android are directed to raise a support ticket instead of using the in-app button.
Source: How do I delete my account? — Glow
If there is no delete option: making a formal request
Some apps — usually smaller or older ones — have no delete button at all. In that case you write to them.
Find the privacy contact in the app's privacy policy; it's typically a privacy@ or support@ address, and larger companies often have a dedicated request form instead. Then ask for three specific things:
- Deletion of all personal data held about you, not merely closure of the account.
- Written confirmation once it's complete, which is your record that it happened.
- Confirmation that third parties the data was shared with have been notified, where that applies.
Something like this is enough:
Subject: Request for deletion of personal data
Hello,
I'm writing to request the deletion of all personal data you hold about me, including any health and cycle data associated with my account.
Account email: [your email] Username, if applicable: [your username]
Please confirm in writing once the deletion is complete, and confirm whether any third parties this data was shared with have been notified of the request.
Thank you, [your name]
Adapt it freely — there's no magic wording. Response times and whether a company is obliged to comply depend on the law where you live, so treat a reply as something to follow up on rather than something guaranteed to arrive by a fixed date.
How to check it actually worked
Three checks, in order:
Try to log back in. If your credentials still work and your history is there, nothing has been deleted. If you get an "account not found" error, that's the signal you want.
Look for a confirmation email, including in spam. Keep it. If a company later says it has no record of your request, that email is the record.
Read what the confirmation actually says. "Account deactivated" and "data deleted" are different statuses, and only one of them is what you asked for. If the wording is ambiguous, reply and ask them to confirm the data itself has been erased.
One thing that is normal, and not a company ignoring you: some retention is lawful. Billing and transaction records typically have to be kept for tax and accounting purposes, and companies may also hold limited records to handle disputes or meet other legal obligations. That's a narrow carve-out covering payment records — not a licence to keep your cycle history.
Finally, if you ever connected the app to Apple Health or Health Connect, check there too. Data written into those platforms is stored by the platform, separately from the app, so deleting your app account doesn't touch it — here's the full guide to deleting cycle data from Apple Health and Health Connect, including how to see which app wrote it.
Choosing what comes next
There's one question that decides most of this, and it isn't which app has the nicest charts: does the next app keep your data on a server, or on your device?
If there's a server, everything in this post applies again the next time you leave — the export, the delete, the confirmation, the follow-up. If there isn't one, deletion is just deleting the app, because there was never a second copy to chase.
Neither answer is automatically right. Server-based apps give you effortless sync across devices and a recoverable account if you lose your phone. On-device apps give you less to worry about later and a much shorter privacy policy. What matters is knowing which one you picked. If you want to judge a specific app before installing it, the five-minute checklist in our previous post walks through the six things to look at.
A note on the app I build
Frequently asked questions
Does deleting a period app delete my data?
No. Removing the app from your phone only removes the app. If the app had an account, a copy of your data stays on the company's servers until you delete the account itself, usually from a settings menu inside the app or by writing to the company.
How long do period apps keep your data after deletion?
It varies, and only some apps publish a figure. Ovia, for example, documents that principal backups are cleared no later than 35 days after the primary record is deleted. Others state only that deletion is permanent. Check the app's own privacy policy for its retention schedule.
Can I get my period data back after deleting it?
Generally no. Flo, Clue and Natural Cycles all describe account deletion as irreversible in their help documentation. That is why exporting your cycle history first matters: once the deletion goes through, the company usually cannot restore it even if you ask.
Do I have a legal right to have my data deleted?
Possibly, depending on where you live. The GDPR in the EU and UK, and laws such as the CCPA in California, give people rights to request erasure of personal data, with exceptions. Eligibility and timeframes differ by jurisdiction, so check the rules that apply to you.
What's the safest way to switch period trackers?
Export your history from the old app first, install the new one and check it works for you, then delete the old account rather than just uninstalling it. Doing it in that order means you are never without your cycle history at any point.
The order is what matters: export first, delete properly rather than just uninstalling, then confirm it actually happened. Do those three and you've genuinely left, not just stopped opening the app. And when you pick what's next, ask where the data lives — because if the answer is "only on my phone", you won't have to do any of this again.