As of today, Google has started deleting accounts that have not been used in the past two years. It is possible to still save your account.
Back in May this year, the announcement was made that as of December 2023, it will start deleting accounts that have not been used for two years. Several alerts repeated the message.
The tech giant gives several reasons for the action: it frees up more storage space, removes unused (personal) data, and helps the company save costs. Also, by removing the numerous unused accounts, Google can better fight spam. This is because these particular accounts often do not use MFA but also have passwords that may have been compromised elsewhere.
Also read: Google sets stricter requirements for bulk email senders in fight against spam
Log in at least once in 2 years
Users can avoid having their inactive Google account deleted by logging in once every two years. It is sufficient to send a simple email. This gives users with a Google account the possibility of keeping their account.
Procedure in stages
The deletion is done in stages and starts with accounts that were created and never used from the start until now.
Accounts associated with certain Google services, such as Google Workspace or Google One, are excluded from deletion. Also excluded are long-unused accounts that have publicly accessible videos on YouTube.