Google will start deleting ‘inactive’ accounts

Have a Google account you haven’t used in a while? If you want to keep it from disappearing, you better check on it.

Under Google’s updated inactive account policy, which the tech giant announced in May, accounts that haven’t been used in at least two years could be deleted.

Google attributed the change in policy to security concerns.

The easiest way to keep your Google account active, and thus prevent it from being deleted, is to sign in at least once every two years.

To remain active in Google’s eyes, you also could scroll through emails, use Google search and watch YouTube videos while signed in to your Google account.

If you have an account that’s at risk for deletion, you’re supposed to get multiple notices from Google sent to the email affiliated with that account, and if you included one, its recovery address.

To ensure that your content on Google Drive, Docs, Gmail and more is saved, here’s what you need to know:

• Accounts that haven’t been used for a long time are more likely to be compromised. The company says “forgotten or unattended accounts” typically have old passwords, often lack two-factor authentication and receive fewer security checks. As a result, these accounts could be hijacked and used for spam or other malicious content as well as identity theft.
• Preserving content on Google Photos requires a specific sign-in. As previously announced by Google, Photos content might similarly be deleted after two years of inactivity — meaning you should open the application every so often to keep images from going into the trash.
• Only personal Google accounts that haven’t been used for two years or more will be affected under this inactive account update. Accounts made for organizations, like schools or companies, won’t be affected, Google says.
• Other exceptions include Google accounts that manage active minor accounts, accounts containing a gift-card balance and those that have been used to buy Google products, apps or subscriptions that are ongoing.
• A Google spokesperson says there also are no plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos.

Beyond keeping your Google account active, there are a few tools to help manage and back up your data.

Google Takeout, for example, allows users to download and export account data outside of Google at any time.

And its “Inactive Account Manager” lets you choose what would happen to your account and the data it contains if it becomes inactive — including options to send select files to trusted contacts or to delete the account entirely.

Google’s online policy also says the company can work with immediate family to close the account of a deceased loved one or to provide some account content — without sharing login credentials — on a case-by-case basis.

Google asks users to provide and update a recovery email for their account — which also is helpful for sending inactive account notices and other communications.