What form fields should be removed to reduce registration friction?

The safest fields to remove are the ones that are not required to create the account right now. In most cases, keep only the essentials such as email and password at sign-up, and collect everything else later through onboarding or progressive profiling.

Fields to remove or defer

• Phone number, unless it is needed immediately for account access or verification
• Company name, job title, and company size, unless the account flow is specifically B2B and needs them at registration
• Address, unless you are shipping physical goods or need a service address right away
• Date of birth and other demographic fields, unless there is a clear age or eligibility requirement
• Gender, social media handles, and similar profile details that do not affect account creation
• “How did you hear about us”, free-text comments, and other marketing or feedback fields
• Consent or preferences that are not legally required at the point of sign-up; if they are not mandatory, defer them

Good rule of thumb

If a field does not change what happens next for the user, remove it from registration and ask for it later.