Google has plans to get rid of inactive accounts that have remained on its servers for weeks. Starting from December 1st, Google will implement this measure for all accounts that have not taken any action in the last 24 months. If you’ve used your account in the last two years, it won’t be deleted, but you should keep an eye on its inactivity if you don’t use it regularly.
The 24-month period won’t apply in the initial wave of deletions, but it will soon be enforced, either in December or starting from early 2024. Initially, the first mass deletions will target accounts that were created but never used for any action. Later on, depending on their goals and needs, they’ll notify accounts at risk of deletion and provide a chance to temporarily recover these accounts.
How to prevent your account from being deleted
You might think there’s a complex process involved if you have a Google account that hasn’t been used in the last two years, but it’s far from the truth. All you need to do to ensure Google doesn’t deactivate your account is to use it in some way, whether through Gmail or any of its linked services.
If you perform any of these actions, it will momentarily reset the inactivity counter for your account:
- Watching YouTube videos with that Google account.
- Writing an email, sending it, or receiving one.
- Having an Android device linked to that account.
- Using “Sign in with Google” on any third-party service.
- Downloading an app from the Google Play Store using that account.
- Performing Google searches.
The evolution of Google
With this measure, it’s evident that Google’s intention, by deactivating potentially tens of millions of currently inactive accounts, is to expand the available space on its servers, reducing maintenance costs and expanding the capacity of its systems. Furthermore, with the advancements in Artificial Intelligence it’s pursuing through Bard, there’s no doubt that Google will have monumental needs for energy and storage to continue working on it.
However, Google is often embroiled in controversies since many of its actions don’t always receive positive press. An example of this is the complaint from many Mozilla Firefox users who noticed a scheduled 5-second slowdown when playing videos on YouTube. Such an accusation, if legally confirmed, could lead to the company facing lawsuits for anti-competitive practices.
