Millions of inactive Google accounts soon to be deleted

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It may be a shock, but millions of Google accounts are about to get purged. But wait up. Only old, unused accounts will be deleted.

This change to how Google handles inactive accounts was announced earlier this year. Google is cleaning house of accounts that haven’t been touched in two years.

That’s supposedly to stop hackers using old accounts to scam other users, as old accounts are easier to get into.

You can still save your account if it has precious memories attached by logging in.

We recommend changing the password, too, since older credentials are more likely to be in data dumps from previous hacks.

You still have time to save your Google account

Google announced in May that it would delete accounts that have been inactive for at least two years. Before the new policy, the company deleted only inactive account contents, not the accounts themselves.

Reportedly, the policy change aims to improve security by deactivating idle accounts susceptible to compromise. And the company is justified to do so, as recently it was revealed that Google Calendar is the next target for hackers.

Google announced that it will begin purging inactive accounts starting in December 2023, which is less than a month away.

Google will begin deleting inactive Gmail accounts, starting with those created but never used. Google confirms that accounts with YouTube videos will not be deleted at this time.

How can you ensure that your Google account remains active?

Signing in using any Google service is all you need. You can also select from a wide range of activities, like reading an email, accessing Google Drive, watching YouTube videos, etc, to save your Google account. 

However, you must remember that Google’s new policy only applies to personal accounts. So, accounts from organizations like schools or businesses do not fall under this policy.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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