Google is planning to delete millions of Gmail accounts that have been inactive for a long time, starting from December 2023.
The company announced this move earlier this year, saying that it aims to make Gmail a safer and more secure service for its users. However, some users may not be aware of this change and may lose their email accounts or usernames if they do not take action.
The Gmail purge is a process that Google uses to remove inactive accounts from its service. According to Google, an account is considered inactive if it has not been used for an extended period of time, usually more than two years. This means that users who do not sign in to their Google account or use it for any purpose may be at risk of having their account deleted.
Google says that it does not store any personal information or data from these accounts, and that it only deletes them to free up space and improve performance. However, some users may still lose access to their emails, contacts, calendars, and other data if they do not back them up before the purge.
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How can you avoid the Gmail purge?
If you want to keep your Gmail account active and avoid being deleted by Google, you need to make sure that you use your Google account regularly. This can include signing in to your account at least once every six months, using it for various purposes such as reading emails, watching videos, browsing the web, etc., and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra security.
Two-factor authentication is a feature that requires you to enter a code or use another device to verify your identity when you sign in to your account. This way, even if someone knows your password, they cannot access your account without the code or device. You can enable 2FA for your Gmail account by following these steps:
Go to your Google Account. On the left navigation panel, click Security. Under “Signing in to Google,” click 2-Step Verification. Follow the instructions on the screen.
You can also check which devices are linked to your account by clicking “Manage devices” under “Signing in to Google.” If you see any devices that you do not recognize or trust, you can remove them by clicking “Remove device.”
What will happen after the Gmail purge?
Google says that it will start deleting inactive accounts from December 2023 and continue until all inactive accounts are removed. The company estimates that this process will affect about 5% of Gmail users2. However, this does not mean that all users will lose their email addresses or usernames. Some users may still be able to use their old usernames after the purge if they are available.
However, there is no guarantee that all usernames will be available after the purge. Some usernames may have been taken by other users who have been using them for longer than two years. In that case, users who want to change their usernames may have to wait until new ones become available or create new ones.
How can you find out if your account is active?
If you want to know if your account is active or not, you can check it by going to My Activity. This is a central place where you can view and manage your activity on Google services such as Search, YouTube, Chrome, etc. You can also see when and how often you have used your Google account.
To access My Activity: Go to My Activity. Browse your activity by day and time. Use the search bar and filters at the top. Select Details at the bottom of each item.
You can also turn off or delete some of your activity settings by clicking on them under “History settings.” For example, you can turn off saving certain types of activity such as location or device information.
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What happens to my emails if my account is deleted?
If your account is deleted by Google, your emails will be permanently removed from the service. You will not be able to access them again or recover them from Google’s backup. However, you may have a chance to restore them from another source, such as a third-party backup service or a local hard drive.
One option is to use Google Takeout, which is a tool that allows you to export and download your data from Gmail. You can choose what data you want to back up, such as messages, labels, attachments, etc., and download them as a ZIP file. You can then upload the ZIP file to another service or device and access your emails there.
Another option is to use a third-party backup service, such as Gmvault, Backupify, or Mail Archiver X. These services can help you backup your Gmail messages to a hard drive or an external device. They can also apply your backups to a new account if you ever lose your old one.
A third option is to manually copy your emails from Gmail to another folder on your computer or phone. You can do this by selecting the messages you want to back up and clicking on the three-dot menu icon at the top right corner. Then, choose “Move to” and select a destination folder on your device. You can also use the search bar to find specific messages or labels.
These are some of the ways you can backup your Gmail emails before they are deleted by Google. However, none of these methods are guaranteed to work if your account is already deleted or if you have not taken any action before. Therefore, it is advisable to take regular backups of your emails and keep them in a safe place.
Google’s decision to delete millions of Gmail accounts in December 2023 is part of its effort to make Gmail a safer and more secure service for its users. However, some users may not be aware of this change and may lose their email accounts or usernames if they do not take action.
To avoid being deleted by Google, users need to make sure that they use their Google account regularly and enable two-factor authentication for extra security. Users also need to check which devices are linked to their accounts and remove any suspicious ones. Users can also find out if their account is active by checking My Activity.
Users who want to keep their old usernames after the purge may have to wait until new ones become available or create new ones.