Google plans on deleting inactive Gmail accounts and photos starting December 1, as others have reported.
Google announced the news of deleting abandoned Gmail accounts earlier this year, as well as the December start, but now that deadline is weeks away.
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Google defines an inactive account as one that hasn’t been used within a two-year period. The tech giant considers actions like signing in; reading or sending an email; using Google Drive; watching a YouTube video; sharing photos; downloading an app; and searching while signed in to be activities.
If you haven’t logged in or done any activity on a Google account in two years, Google will deem it inactive. This policy only applies to personal accounts, not those tied to an employer, school, or other organization.
Once deemed inactive, starting December 1, Google may delete all the account’s content and data. As Forbes pointed out, this includes a host of information stored by Google, including Google Photos, Google Calendar events, Google Docs, and emails. Beforehand, Google will send notifications to that account and a recovery email if there is one.
“Google products reserve the right to delete your data when your account has not been used within that product for a 2-year period,” Google states in its Inactive Google Account Policy. “December 1, 2023 is the earliest a Google Account will be deleted due to this policy.”
There are some exceptions to this, such as if your account was used to purchase something in the Google Play store or if your account has a gift card with an active balance.
So, if you have a Gmail account you haven’t used in a while and don’t want Google to delete everything associated with it, be sure to log in before December 1.