Google will delete millions of Gmail accounts. Here's how you can keep your account active

California, United States

For those users of Gmail who have not been accessing their accounts regularly, there is a chance that their accounts may get deleted soon.

Millions of Gmail accounts stand at risk of getting deleted in December 2023. The aim is to deactivate all accounts that have remained inactive for at least two years.

Google Vice President of Product Management Ruth Kricheli wrote a blog post in May in which the company stated that steps are being taken to reduce the risk of account deletions.

“Google is updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to 2 years across our products. Starting in December, if a Google account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents, including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), and Google Photos,” read the post.

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"This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two-factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user," Kricheli added.

"Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have two-step verification set up. These accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” he further stated.

Who stands at risk?

The policy is only applicable to personal Google accounts not accessed in the last two years. Accounts of organisations like schools or businesses will remain unaffected by this overhaul.

How can you keep your Google account active?

As per the Google blog post, the best way to keep your Google account active is to keep signing in at least once every two years.

If you have recently signed into your Google Account or used any of its services, then it will be considered active and will not get deleted.

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It is not necessary to read or send an email to keep your Gmail account active.

The users who have signed into their accounts for using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video or downloading an app on the Google Play Store and using Google Search, will also be considered active users.

(With inputs from agencies)