Starting on December 1, Google will start to delete inactive Google accounts. This has been a long time coming, and that time is finally here.
Google says that they define an inactive Google Account as an account that has not been used within a two-year period. Google also reserves the right to delete an inactive Google account and its activity and data if you are inactive across Google for at least two years.
This means that the Google account you set up for subscribing to newsletters or joining online forums and getting all that spam might be going away in the coming days. Now, if you want to keep that Google account, there is still time to keep it from getting purged.
How to keep your Google accounts
It’s actually not difficult at all to preserve your older Google account(s). The only thing you need to do is to sign in at least once every two years and do any activity at all on that account. Google defines activity that would keep your account active as:
- Reading or sending an email
- Using Google Drive
- Watching a YouTube Video
- Sharing a photo
- Downloading an app
- Using Google Search
- Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.
So it’s as easy as sending an email to your primary Google account from this account that could go inactive.
If you can’t remember the last time you logged into the account and did anything, it’s a good time to log in and make sure. If you’ve forgotten your password, you’ll want to use the Google password recovery tool, which will require you to answer questions to confirm that you are who you say you are.
However, if you have forgotten your email, you can use the Google account recovery tool to get back in. You will, however, need a phone number or the recovery email address for that account. If you do happen to run into trouble, Google is there to help you out.
Why is Google deleting inactive accounts?
Many might think that Google is doing this account purge because they’ve run out of email aliases or need to free up some space on their servers, but that’s not why. Unsurprisingly, these accounts that don’t get used all that often are “more likely to be compromised.”
This is because these types of accounts typically rely on old or re-used passwords. They also often receive fewer security checks by users and are about ten times more likely not to have two-factor authentication set up, according to Google’s internal data.
Most importantly, when an account is left compromised, “it can be used for anything from identity theft to… unwanted or even malicious content, like spam”. So purging these inactive accounts helps Google keep your accounts that are being used and your other personal information free from those with malicious intent.
When will Google start the great account purge?
Google will begin purging these inactive accounts on December 1, 2023. So this means you have until then to make your inactive account active again. The policy from Google indicates that the company will start by eliminating accounts that users created and then never revisited.
Depending on how many inactive accounts there actually are, it could take weeks or months to fully purge them all. Google has confirmed that it will be a “phased” approach, so it won’t be done right away. While Google has not mentioned how many inactive accounts there are, it’s likely that the number is in the tens of millions.
How can I save my Google Data?
If the account is inactive and you don’t have a desire to keep it but do wish to keep the data, you can download it. With Google Takeout, you can download all or some of your data. Google will let you download emails, documents, calendars, photos, YouTube videos, and data about registration and account activity.
It might be a good idea to save this data, even if you do decide to keep your account active, just as a safety measure.
2023-11-30 15:08:38