Google has taken a dislike to abandoned accounts. This is quite normal, especially considering that it poses a significant security risk to the user and an extra maintenance cost for their servers. To address this, Google got to work and updated its policies last May; now, if an account hasn’t been used in at least two years, it’s most likely to be completely deleted.
Although Google’s policies were changed months ago, it will be during the next month of December when they will start to be implemented. In addition to the accounts, the company owned by Alphabet will also delete all content associated with the inactive account, such as Gmail emails, Google Docs documents, Google Drive data, and even Google Photos pictures.
The deletion will only affect personal accounts, so business-type accounts (such as those for schools and businesses) will be spared, at least for now. The process will be gradual: initially, accounts that have never been used since their creation will be deleted. Afterward, Google will send the user several warnings to both the email being deleted and the recovery email.
How do I prevent my Google account from being deleted?
The answer is as easy as it is obvious: don’t leave the account to chance. If you have a Gmail address that you want to keep for its data or for a specific use, all you have to do is log in from time to time. With this simple gesture, Google will consider that the email is still active.
Plus, you don’t have to sign in to all Google services. The moment you use the account in one of them (Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, etc.) is more than enough. And most important of all: don’t forget to do it before December.
