Google is deleting Gmail accounts again — how YOU can keep yours
Google is deleting inactive accounts from its servers as part of a new push to improve security for all users
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Google is deleting an estimated 1.8 billion Gmail accounts as part of an industrial-scale clear-out of its servers.
Any accounts earmarked for removal will have all emails, chat history, passwords, YouTube comments, and everything else that can be linked to a Google account wiped permanently. If you haven't logged-in to your Gmail for some time, it's possible that your account has been identified as part of the next wave of deletions.
Google says removing millions of inactive accounts will boost security for internet users worldwide. Confirming the decision to start deleting Gmail accounts last year, Vice President of Product Management, Ruth Kricheli penned a blog post stating: "If an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised. This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or reused passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two-factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user."
If you've received an email warning about an impending deletion, you can log in to your account to reactivate it — as demonstrated by the GIF above
GOOGLE BLOG POST
Based on internal data seen by Google, abandoned accounts are "at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have two-step verification set up," which means the accounts are "often vulnerable". Hackers can use these forgotten accounts for a slew of cyber attacks, including identity theft or mass-spam email campaigns.
Either way, Google wants to remove the possibility by wiping as many as 1.8 billion Gmail accounts.
Haven't logged into your Google account for a while? It's possible your account could be identified as one of the abandoned accounts that Google plans on purging as part of its mission to protect its users' data.
The Californian internet giant has been taking a phased approach, beginning late last year, starting with Google accounts that were created but never used again.
That meant when Google's Ruth Kricheli first revealed plans to wipe these accounts, you were probably safe — since you're unlikely to miss an account that was set-up... but never used to send an email. But with the one-year anniversary of the purge fast-approaching, it's worth checking your old Gmail account.
As Google continues to ramp-up the process, it will remove photos, videos, emails, and other data belonging to a swathe of older accounts. That includes personal data from Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Meet, Google Calendar, and Google Photos.
Any accounts that haven't been accessed within the last two years will be earmarked for deletion.
So, as long as you've logged into all of your accounts with Google and Gmail since the beginning of last year, you won't need to fear any data loss in the upcoming purge.
Ongoing subscriptions, like monthly payments for cloud storage via Google One, will also be considered activity by Google and will guarantee your account avoids the chop. So, even if you're not using the account every day — but pay a subscription to Netflix or something else from that account, it will be spared.
Before deleting an account, Google says it will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the email address used for the Google account as well as the recovery email, if one was provided during the account set-up process.
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How to stop your Google Account from being deleted
Google has listed a number of actions that'll block your account from being marked for deletion.
If you follow any of these common actions, your account will avoid deletion for the next two years. Although, it's worth remembering that this is a permanent change to Google's inactive account policy — not a one-off event. In other words, you'll need to keep your account in use regularly, or risk deletion in a few years' time all over again.
The suggested actions from Google to ensure your account remains active:
- Login to your account
- Use Google Search while logged-in
- Read or send an email from your Gmail inbox
- Upload a file to Google Drive
- Download an existing file from Google Drive
- Watching a video on YouTube while logged-in
- Share a photo from Google Photos
- Download an app from the Google Play Store
- Use "Sign-In With Google" to log in to a website or app
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