If you’ve had a dating profile up on one or more dating apps for a while, and you finally pulled the trigger on hiring a dating photographer (or improving your dating photos on your own), this hack could be the difference between getting a small bump in likes and matches, and a HUGE one.
In terms of order of operations, you could technically do this app reset after you've updated your new dating photos but I highly recommend you do it beforehand so you get that clean-slate experience and the most lift from your new dating pics.
[ shoutout to my Client Seth who shared this insight with me so I could pass it along ]
After his Level-Up dating photography session, Seth uploaded his new dating pics to his old Bumble profile, and left his written bio pretty much the same.
Seth’s Bumble profile photos before he hired me for dating photography were...not great.
In his new dating profile photos Seth looks HELLA FINE. To be fair, Seth *is* hella fine. But he also hired a great dating profile photographer (I’m not even attempting to be modest anymore, lol!).
Anyhow, after his dating photo session Seth uploaded his new hella fine dating photos to Bumble. He told me,
"I saw a slight increase in likes and matches but it didn't feel right considering the giant leap in the quality of my new photos..."
He marinated on it for a week and then he tried something...and it worked. Here’s what Seth did:
He deleted his Bumble account, unlinked the Facebook app, waited a day, and then signed up again (same phone number, same bio, new pics).
Seth’s likes “skyrocketed to 100 in ONE DAY".
Seth said he had been on Bumble for “too long” so maybe that has something to do with it.
Turns out, if you've had a profile up on a particular dating app and haven't been getting much action, the dating app's algorithm stops surfacing your profile as much so fewer people lay eyes on you. PLUS, all the people who saw your old profile and swiped left will not get the opportunity to see your new and improved profile.
By deleting the app, waiting a few days, then starting again, the app's algorithm will see you as fresh meat. And in this case--the meat is fuckin FRESSSSHHHHH because your new dating photos look amazing!
There are really just two circumstances when it makes sense to do a dating profile reset, and they are:
1. You have seriously upgraded your dating profile photos. If your appearance has changed, you 100% need to update your dating photos. But even if you look the same, just with better dating photos, a reset will work in your favor.
2. You have changed something meaningful about your dating intentions (maybe you are now looking for a life partner and children whereas before you didn't know if you wanted kids).
The most sure-fire way to reset your dating profile is to literally delete it.
1. Copy your written profile (or take screenshots) so you can recreate it later
2. Delete your account for that dating app
3. Unlink any social media (not sure how necessary this is but why not)
4. Kick back for 24+ hours
5. Sign up for the dating app again (same phone number is fine)
6. *optional* pay for premium (some clients tell me this helps if you do it as a fresh start)
7. Recreate your bio and upload your new & improved dating profile photos
Hinge has a neat feature called "Fresh Start," which makes this reset super easy without losing your existing content (not just your profile but your current likes & matches):
1. Head to Settings: Open Hinge, tap on your profile, and hit the gear icon.
2. Choose "Delete or Pause Account": Don’t worry—this won’t actually delete your stuff.
3. Pick any reason for leaving (doesn't matter)
4. Select "Fresh Start": Confirm and reset your Discover feed instantly.
I’m not a dating app algorithms expert so take this with a grain of salt, and the apps are always changing but think about it like this: dating apps use complex algorithms to determine which profiles to surface and to whom, and it makes sense to me that a “new” or "fresh" profile would get preferential treatment (like, “ladies! Check out this new stud!”). Plus I bet they want to get a "new" user stoked about all the hotties they're meeting so they spend more time on the app.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes for you.
And if you want more tips about how to improve your dating profile, you might like these posts:
4 Reasons you're Choosing the Wrong Dating Photos
What to Wear in your Online Dating Photos
*This post was updated April 15, 2025.
I help people find love on dating apps like Hinge and Bumble. My superpower as a professional dating profile photographer is less about photography skills and more about my way with people. I make regular folks look confident, warm, totally genuine, and effortlessly magnetic in their online dating photos by making them *feel* confident, warm, and magnetic in real life.
