Google has announced that it will start deleting some inactive accounts from December 2023, as part of its updated Inactive Account Manager policy. This means that users who have not signed in to their Google accounts or used any Google services for more than two years may lose their data and content, including Gmail, Photos, Docs, Drive, Calendar and more.
Google said that the move is a safety measure to prevent unused accounts from being hacked or abused. The company also said that it will notify users multiple times before deleting any account or data.
However, users can easily prevent their accounts from being deleted by following some simple steps. Here are some of the things you need to know about Google’s Inactive Account Manager policy and how to keep your account active.
Google considers an account active if there is some activity on it, such as reading or sending an email, watching a YouTube video, uploading or downloading files on Drive, sharing a photo on Photos, or using any other Google service.
Users can check their account activity status by visiting https://myaccount.google.com/inactive.
Users can also choose what happens to their account if they stop using it. They can either delete their account after a certain period of inactivity, or share their data with trusted contacts who can access it in case of emergency.
Users can also download their data and content from their Google account by using Google Takeout. They can select which services they want to export and choose the format and destination of the files.
Users who have paid for Google One storage subscription will not be affected by the Inactive Account Manager policy, as long as their subscription is active. However, if they cancel their subscription or fail to renew it, they may lose their data if they exceed their free storage limit and do not sign in for two years.