Millions of Google Accounts (Gmail and Photos) Will Be Deleted Tomorrow: See if It Affects You

From tomorrow, Google will begin deleting accounts that have been inactive for a long time, along with all their content.. It’s part of a strategy Mountain View announced last May to mitigate potential cybersecurity threats.

If you have Google accounts that you haven’t used for at least two years, They will begin to be removed from December 1. Be careful, this doesn’t mean Californians are doing a complete sweep from day one. The process is expected to be gradual and take several weeks.

However, if you don’t want to lose access to any of these Google accounts, even if you don’t use them daily, it’s important to take action immediately. That is why in this article we will tell you What should you do.

Why Google is starting to delete inactive accounts

Before we get into the options available to you to avoid losing inactive Google accounts and content you may have stored in services like Gmail, Drive, or Google Photos, it’s important to remember why the company decided to take this measure. As we indicated at the beginning, this decision is part of a strategy to minimize the risks of hacking and cybercrime.

As explained in May, accounts that have been inactive for 2 years or more have become very valuable to hackers. The main security risk is that this type of abandoned profiles They typically do not have two-step verification or two-factor authentication enabled.. In fact, Google claims that this extra layer of protection is 10 times more likely to not be enabled in abandoned accounts.

This means they will be easier for hackers to break into and exploit. commit various types of cybercriminal activities. From campaigns phishing or identity theft, malware attacks, to name just a few possibilities.

What to do to avoid losing access to your account

From May until now, Google has been sending out emails informing them that affected accounts will be deactivated. Both to the Gmail addresses of these profiles, and to the associated recovery accounts (if they are configured, of course).

Luckily, the steps to help prevent Mountain View from deleting your inactive account and all its contents are very simple. The first and most important thing is simple: log in. Google recommends doing this at least once every 24 months to prevent the risk of deletion. If you don’t remember your password, you can try to recover it. And while you’re at it, enable two-step verification if you haven’t already used it.

But there are other options that Google has shared on its support page that will help you prevent your account from being deleted. Maybe watch videos on YouTube while you logged in in the corresponding profile, download the application from the Play Storelog in with your credentials to third-party applications or platforms, send emails using Gmail, use Google Drive or share photo via Google Photos.

As we have already indicated, these are extremely simple steps. Google will take them as a warning that you don’t want to lose access to these accounts, even if you haven’t used them for a long time.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that There are some exceptions to this policy.. Google won’t delete inactive accounts that have videos uploaded to YouTube, or if they are associated with a gift card or if you still have money in your cash balance. Those that were used to purchase an active subscription, as well as those that were used to create or manage an active account for a minor, will also not be deleted. You can see all applicable cases at this link.