Google to delete Gmail accounts that haven’t been active, but should you worry?

Google will remove your account permanently if you haven’t logged in to your accounts in the last 2 years. Earlier, Google had a policy to remove the content in inactive accounts to save storage space. However, as per the new inactive accounts policy, the company will delete such accounts entirely.  

Google says that if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, the company will delete the account along with its content. Users will not be able to access the email address, Gmail messages, Calendar events, Drive, Docs and other Workspace files, YouTube and Google Photos. Notably, Google has clarified that this policy only applies to personal accounts and accounts for organisations, schools or businesses will remain unaffected.  

The reason why Google is doing this is because it believes that if an account is abandoned for around 2 years, the chances of it being compromised are high. Google stated, “, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.”

Google will begin deleting these accounts starting December 2023. Google reveals, “Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided).” The company will start the deletion process with the accounts that were never used after being created.

How to keep your Google account active 

To keep your Google account active, you need to sign in to your account at least once in 24 months. Google states, “If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.”

You can also keep your Google account active by Reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching YouTube videos, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google Search, and using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.

Notably, users will need to specifically sign in to Google Photos every 2 years to be considered active. This will make sure that Google doesn’t delete your content. However, before taking any such action, Google will send multiple notifications to the users.

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