Haven’t Checked Your Gmail in a While? Google May Delete it

Google will begin deleting accounts in December that have not been used for at least two years, the company announced Tuesday.

To expunge old accounts from Gmail, you don’t only lose access to Google Docs, Workspace, Photos, and other Google products. You also lose all videos that an affected user has uploaded to YouTube, as well as any work in Google Docs, Workspace, Photos, and other Google products.

The company’s product management official, Ruth Kricheli, announced the new policy on Wednesday. She said that the change was made to protect users from security risks because accounts that had been idle for a while were more likely to be compromised.

Google said that abandoned accounts were less likely to have two-factor verification than active ones, according to an internal analysis. “Accounts can be susceptible to fraud or malicious content,” Ms. Kricheli said, “and once compromised, they may be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.”

On Tuesday, Google began deleting unused accounts as part of its policy. It said it would start by deleting accounts that were created but never used. Google previously informed users through Gmail and any backup email addresses that had been provided before an account was deleted.

Only personal Google accounts would be affected by the expungement plan, Ms. Kricheli said. She added that schools and enterprises that use Gmail and other Google services would not be affected.

Google users who have not used their account in at least two years and do not want their account to be deleted can keep it active by logging into Gmail or any other Google service, such as Google Drive, YouTube, or Google Search, or downloading any app from the Google Play Store. The company said that anyone with an existing subscription that had been set up with a Google account, such as one linked to a news outlet, would be considered an active user, and their account would not be deleted.

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