Back in May, Google announced an update to its inactivity policy for Google Accounts. Starting in December 2023, personal Google Accounts that have been inactive for at least two years may be deleted, along with their contents in services like Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar, and Google Photos. This policy does not apply to accounts associated with organizations such as schools or businesses.
Implementation of this policy will be gradual, and Google will prioritize accounts that were created and never used again. Account holders will receive multiple notifications before any deletion occurs, providing opportunities to reactivate their accounts.
To keep an account active, users must sign in at least once every two years. Activities like reading or sending emails, using Google Drive, watching YouTube videos, or using Google Search contribute to account activity. Accounts with active Google subscriptions or YouTube videos are currently exempt from this policy.
This is just a heads-up, mostly because “login to the Gmail accounts you want to keep today” popped up on my to-do list this morning. Now, if you could just remember all those cryptic, very strong passwords…
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.