To delete a Google Business Profile, sign in at business.google.com, open More, then Business Profile settings, then Remove Business Profile, and choose Remove profile content and managers. That removes your access and everything owners added, but it does not guarantee the business disappears from Google Maps, and your customer reviews stay where they are.
That second part catches most people out. “Delete” in Google’s menu means “stop managing this listing”, not “wipe it from the internet”. So before you click anything, work out what you actually want: the listing gone, the listing marked closed, or the listing in someone else’s hands. Each one has its own button, and picking the wrong one can cost you years of reviews.
Everything below comes from Google’s own Business Profile Help pages, checked in October 2026. Menu labels change, so if a button has moved, the linked help page will have the current one.
Delete, close or hand over: pick the right option first
Google gives you five ways to step away from a profile. They do very different things to the public listing. In short: remove it if you never want to manage it again, mark it closed if the business has shut, transfer it if you sold the business, stop managing it if you’re an agency or employee leaving, and request removal only for a listing that never existed or isn’t eligible.
| Option | Listing on Maps | Reviews | Undo? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remove profile | May still show | Stay | No, re-verify |
| Mark closed | Shows “Permanently closed” | Stay | Yes, reopen |
| Transfer ownership | Unchanged | Stay | New owner decides |
| Stop managing | Unchanged | Stay | An owner re-adds you |
| Request removal | Removed if approved | Go with it | Not yours to undo |
Sources: remove a profile, mark closed, transfer ownership, owners and managers, request removal.
If your shop has closed and you want customers to stop turning up at a locked door, marking it permanently closed does more than deleting. A deleted profile with nobody managing it can keep showing your old hours as if nothing happened. A closed profile tells searchers the truth straight away.
Before you delete anything
Three things decide whether the delete button will even work for you.
- You must be the primary owner. Google says only primary owners can remove a profile’s content and managers. Regular owners and managers won’t see the option, or will get an error.
- New owners wait 7 days. If you were added to the profile in the last week, Google blocks deleting it, removing other users and transferring ownership until the 7 days are up.
- You must be signed in to the right Google account. Plenty of small businesses verified their profile years ago with a personal Gmail address, or an old employee’s. If you can’t remember which account it was, Google points you to its account recovery troubleshooter.
Then save anything you want to keep. Removal permanently deletes every post, photo, video and review reply that owners and managers added. Download your own photos first if you might want them for a new website or a future listing.
How to delete your Google Business Profile, step by step
These are the steps from Google’s Remove a Business Profile help page.
- Go to business.google.com and sign in with the Google account that is primary owner of the profile.
- Select More, then Business Profile settings.
- Select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
- Decide on the Mark your business as permanently closed switch. Turn it on if the business has closed. Leave it off if the business is still trading and you only want to stop managing it.
- Select Continue, then Remove, then Done.
Step 4 is the one that matters most. With the switch on, the public listing shows the business as closed and, in Google’s words, “will slowly disappear from search results and then be completely removed.” With it off, the listing can stay live with the details you left behind and nobody to correct them. If the business is still open, leave it off. If it has closed, turn it on.
Deleting several profiles at once
If you manage a chain or a group of locations, use the Business Profile Manager at the same address. Select the profiles, then choose Actions, then Remove businesses, then Remove. If they have shut, Google’s bulk steps have you mark them permanently closed first, as a separate action. Google notes that if bulk removal throws an error, you have to remove each profile one at a time.
Deleting it from your phone
Google’s help page documents removal only from business.google.com. The Google Maps app has a Business tab for editing your profile, but Google doesn’t list a removal path inside the app, so on a phone the dependable route is the same web address in your mobile browser, signed in to the owner account.
What happens after you delete it
Google’s help page is plain about the results.
The details:
- The listing can stay. “After removal, your business might still show up on Search and Maps,” unless Google considers it an ineligible business.
- Reviews stay. Google says user-generated content and reviews remain. Deleting your profile is not a way to get rid of bad reviews. It only removes your ability to reply to them.
- It hits everyone. Removal is permanent and applies to all owners and managers, not just you.
- Coming back means starting over on access. The removed content can’t be recovered. To manage the business again you have to re-verify the profile, the same way a new owner would.
Match the fix to why you’re leaving
Most people searching for how to delete a profile don’t actually need to delete it. Here is the right move for the most common reasons.
The business has closed
Mark it permanently closed from the profile: Edit profile, then Hours, then Edit next to “Hours”, then Permanently closed, then Save (Google’s steps). The profile may still appear for people who search your name, but it clearly says you’re closed. If you also want to give up access, run the removal steps above with the closed switch on.
If you’re only shut for a while, use Temporarily closed instead. Google says to use it for closures longer than 7 days, seasonal breaks or an indefinite pause, and to set special hours for anything shorter. Don’t delete a seasonal business. You’ll lose the posts and photos you’d want back in spring.
You sold the business
Transfer primary ownership to the buyer. Google’s own wording is that this “ensures all of your business info, like reviews, are maintained.” The buyer first needs to be on the profile as an owner or manager, which you set up under Business Profile settings, then People and access. Then select them, choose Edit next to “Access”, pick Primary owner and save. Once you’ve handed over, you can remove yourself.
Do this before the sale closes. A buyer who inherits a deleted profile has to re-verify a listing with no photos, no posts and no replies on its reviews.
You moved
Edit the address on the existing profile under Edit profile, then Location. Google is explicit that a relocated business should not create a new profile for the new address. A fresh profile starts with zero reviews and risks being treated as a duplicate.
One wrinkle: if you already marked the old location permanently closed as part of a move or a name change, Google says not to reopen it. Add a new business instead, verify it, and contact Google support to ask for the reviews to be moved across.
You’re an agency or employee leaving
Don’t remove the profile. Remove yourself: Business Profile settings, People and access, select your own name, then Stop managing and confirm. If you’re the primary owner, transfer that role to the client first, because Google won’t let a primary owner leave without one. Your past review replies and posts stay on the profile.
You created a duplicate, or someone else’s listing is fake
If you made a second profile by mistake, remove the duplicate with the normal steps and check twice which one you’re deleting, because removal takes the content with it. If two public listings exist for the same business, suggest a merge through Google Maps instead. Merged profiles combine their reviews, though replies may be lost.
For a listing you don’t own that never existed, or isn’t eligible for Google (an online-only shop or a rental property, for example), sign in to Google Maps, open the listing, choose Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here, pick an option such as “Doesn’t exist here”, and submit. Google may email you follow-up questions. If it approves the request, the business is removed from Search and Maps. Fraud involving a business’s name, phone number or website goes through Google’s business redressal complaint form instead.
Clean up your other listings too
Your Google profile is rarely the only place your business is listed. If you’ve closed or moved, the same out-of-date hours and phone number are probably sitting on Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp and a dozen directories. Work through the ones in our list of the top 10 directory listings for local citations and close or update each one, so a customer doesn’t drive to an empty storefront because Apple Maps never heard the news.
If you’re moving rather than closing, the same tidy-up is step 2 of our first-week local SEO plan: one version of your name, address and phone number, written the same way everywhere.
FAQ
Does deleting a Google Business Profile delete the reviews?
No. Google says user-generated content and reviews remain after you remove a profile. What disappears is your replies to those reviews, plus the posts, photos and videos owners added.
Can I delete my profile and start a new one to get rid of bad reviews?
No. The old listing and its reviews can stay on Maps, and Google allows only one profile per business, so a new one risks being flagged as a duplicate and hidden. Reply to the reviews instead, or flag any that break Google’s policies.
Why can't I see the option to remove my Business Profile?
Usually because you aren’t the primary owner, or you became an owner less than 7 days ago. Ask the primary owner to transfer the role to you, or wait out the 7 days and try again.
Can I undo deleting a Google Business Profile?
Not the removal itself. The deleted content can’t be recovered, and you have to re-verify the profile to manage it again. A permanently closed status is different: you can reopen it from the Hours section at any time.
The short version
If the business is open and you just want out, transfer ownership or remove yourself. If it has closed, mark it permanently closed, then remove the profile with the closed switch on. Delete without closing only when the business is still trading and you’re sure nobody needs to manage the listing, and know that the listing and its reviews will probably outlive your access to them.
