Before deciding to delete your Handshake account, we encourage you to explore a few alternatives that may better address your needs. These options can help you maintain access to valuable Handshake features and benefits without permanently deleting your account.
Alternatives to Deleting Your Account
Not Looking for a Job or Internship?
If you're not currently job-hunting, you can update your career interests to reflect your current needs. To do this, refer to Step 4 in Update Your Career Interests.Concerns About Your Account or Data Privacy?
If you're concerned about privacy, Handshake offers various profile privacy options. Setting your profile to Private completely hides your information from employers and other students while still allowing you to access your school’s career services. Learn more in Profile Privacy Options in Handshake.Want to Adjust Notification and Email Preferences?
If you'd like to change how you receive notifications and emails, you can adjust your settings in the Default Notification Preferences.Want to Step Away Temporarily?
If you’d like to pause your access but may want to return later, contact your school’s career services office to ask about archiving your account instead of deleting it. Archiving preserves your data and allows for future reactivation.
How to Request an Account Deletion
All deletion requests — regardless of account type (student, Handshake AI fellow, or alumni) — are submitted the same way, through Handshake’s Privacy Center:
- Open the Privacy Center.
- Select Requests from the left menu.
- Choose Delete Your Data.
- Enter the following information:
- Request details
- First name
- Last name
- Email (make sure to use your Handshake student account email address)
- Country
- State
- Click Submit to send your request.
What Happens After You Submit
After you submit your request, you’ll receive an email from Ketch asking you to verify it. Ketch is the privacy request platform Handshake uses to securely process account deletion requests, so this email is legitimate and part of our process. It comes from noreply@m.ketch.com.
You have 3 days to respond to the email. If you don’t verify your request in that time, we won’t be able to process it, and you’ll need to submit a new request.
Didn't Receive the Verification Email?
- Check your spam or junk folder.
- Confirm that entered your email address correctly.
- Check the inbox associated with the email address you provided.
Account Deletion Processing
- Unaffiliated accounts: If only one Handshake account is associated with your email address, your deletion is handled automatically. We’ll send updates to let you know once the process is complete.
- Affiliated accounts: If your account is affiliated with a school, your request creates a Support ticket instead of completing automatically. Support will notify your school’s Career Services team and give them time to retain any data needed for their own reporting before your account is deleted. You’ll receive confirmation that your request was received while this is being handled.
- Multiple accounts on the same email: If more than one Handshake account (of any type) is linked to your email address, your request will also create a Support ticket for manual review, regardless of affiliation.
If you’re a Handshake AI fellow who also has a student account, your student account’s affiliation status determines how your deletion request is handled, following the same logic above.
If you experience issues submitting your request, don't receive the verification email, or have questions about the account deletion process, contact Handshake Support for assistance.