The Threads team is addressing one of the biggest initial user concerns with the app, with Threads users now able to delete their Threads profile independent of their Instagram presence.

As you can see in this screenshot, shared by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, there’s now an updated process in your Threads settings (under “Account”/”Delete or Deactivate Profile”) which enables you to deactivate your Threads profile. And if you don’t reactivate it within 30 days, it will be deleted entirely, with your Instagram profile being unaffected by any change.

Initially, because Threads is built on top of Instagram’s infrastructure, your Threads and IG profiles were intrinsically linked, because your Threads profile was actually a sub-element of your IG presence, as opposed to being a separate entity.

That spooked some users, who didn’t want to delete their Instagram profile, but were undecided on Threads. Instagram promised to rectify this situation, and now it has, with a separation of the two, enabling more control over each.

Though you can’t have a Threads profile without an IG presence, so they’re still linked in one key way. But you can now get rid of your Threads presence without having to also cull your Instagram identity.

Which is a good move, and a good update. And as Threads continues to get bigger, it seems inevitable that it will become even more independent of IG. Though, evidently, that won’t extend to DMs.

In another exchange on Threads, Mosseri has also stated clearly that DMs are not currently in the pipeline for Threads.

There’s still a possibility that your Threads profile could be linked back to your IG DMs, which would then also see them linked to your Messenger and WhatsApp inboxes as well, by extension. But it’s clearly not a priority for the Threads team right now, based on Mosseri’s statement.

So, mixed results for Threads users. Now, you can delete your Threads profile, but not separate DMs for the foreseeable future.