Google to delete millions of Gmail accounts next month. Is yours safe? Google has said it will delete Gmail accounts to prevent security threats including hacks. Only those accounts that have not been opened in two years are at risk of being deleted. This does not apply to organisations such as schools or businesses.
Google will roll out the Gmail deletion from December 1, 2023. This has been informed much earlier by Google so that users can take necessary steps to meet security policies. In the statement, Alphabet said that to reduce this risk, we are updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to 2 years across our products. Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents – including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos.
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Google Vice President of Product Management Ruth Kricheli said that the policy only applies to personal Google Accounts, and will not affect accounts for organizations like schools or businesses. This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information.
Google will send a notification before your Gmail Account Deletion:
Google will be rolling out Gmail account deletion slowly and carefully, with plenty of notice. In the
- According to the notification, Google will not immediately impact users with inactive accounts — the earliest we will begin deleting accounts is December 2023
- We will take a phased approach, starting with accounts that were created and never used again
- 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)
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Whom Gmail will be deleted: Is your account safe?
According to Google, photos or videos you back up in storage saver, original quality, or express quality will count towards your 15 GB of Google Account cloud storage or any additional storage you may have purchased as a Google One member. If you’re inactive in Google Photos for 2 or more years, or if you’re out of storage, your Photos content may be deleted.
Google will also reserve the right to delete data in a product if you are inactive in that product for at least two years. This is determined based on each product’s inactivity policies. Read Here: What is an Inactive Google Account Policy
How to keep your Gmail account active before Google delete it?
According to the official statement, the simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in at least once every 2 years. If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted. The activity might include these types of actions you take when you sign in or while you’re signed in to your Google Account:
- Reading or sending an email
- Using Google Drive
- Watching a YouTube video
- Downloading an app on the Google Play Store
- Using Google Search
- Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service
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If you have an existing subscription set up through your Google Account, for example to Google One, a news publication or an app, we also consider this account activity and your account will not be impacted. Additionally, we do not have plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time.
