faq
Today, the online company Google is launching a large-scale deletion campaign: Google accounts that have not been used for more than two years will be deleted. What should users pay attention to? An overview.
Google says it will begin deleting inactive accounts in December. Anyone who has an account for Gmail and other services but has not used it for a long time could be affected by the Internet giant’s large-scale deletion campaign.
Which accounts will be deleted?
Google will begin deleting accounts that have been inactive for more than two years on December 1, 2023. So anyone who hasn’t sent an email via their own Gmail account for 24 months and hasn’t used this account to watch YouTube videos could be affected by deletion.
In concrete terms, this means that anyone affected could lose countless photos that were uploaded to Google Photos a long time ago and have not been accessed since. Or documents in Google Docs that were once archived but haven’t been accessed in a while. Emails, videos and documents stored in Google Drive would also be affected.
According to the terms of use, company accounts that incur fees and school accounts that work with Google services are exempt from deletion.
How can you prevent deletion?
Important: Anyone who would be affected by a deletion will be informed by Google in a timely manner by email. However, you only notice this if you check your emails. It is therefore worth actively logging in to all relevant Google accounts.
It doesn’t matter whether you log in to Gmail, YouTube or Google Drive – the main thing is that the Google account is actively used. This means that users should pay attention to where their Google account is linked: Anyone who has linked their Google account to Maps automatically activates a login every time they start the application. Loading an app from the Google Play Store is also enough to mark an account as active.
If you want to log in to your account to make sure it is active and not deleted, you can do so on any device: desktop, mobile or tablet.
Why are the accounts deleted?
Google gives several reasons for the deletion. On the one hand, it has to do with security risks. If you don’t use the account for a long time, you don’t change your password. This, in turn, makes it easier for hackers to break into the accounts and misuse them for identity theft or other criminal activities.
In addition, deleting also frees up storage space. Because stored documents, photos or videos that are no longer needed create large amounts of data. Stopping this not only saves money, but also energy. At the same time, the user names can also be reassigned.
Can deleted accounts be restored?
If a Google account has been deleted, Google offers the option to restore accounts. It is important that Google can actually assign the account to the user. Users whose accounts have been deleted should visit the account recovery page and answer any questions asked.
With information from Nils Dampz, ARD Studio Los Angeles