Google has begun warning users that millions of Gmail accounts will be deleted next month as part of a major update to the platform.
The deletion affects all private Google accounts that have been inactive for at least two years. Your emails, documents, spreadsheets, calendar events, photos, and videos will be permanently deleted. This policy does not affect accounts held by organizations such as schools or businesses.
Google announced this policy earlier this year, which is expected to go into effect in December 2023.
“We are updating the two-year inactivity policy for Google accounts across all of our products to protect account security,” Ruth Critchley, vice president of product management at Google, wrote in a blog post in May.
“This update aligns our policies with industry standards for account retention and deletion and limits the amount of time Google keeps your personal information unused,” Critchley added.
The move aims to protect active Google users from security threats such as phishing and account takeover.
Old accounts that have not been used for years are at risk because their owners may have used the same passwords that were compromised in other security breaches and can be easily accessed across the network.
Any account at risk of deletion will receive multiple notifications, including emergency email addresses, before action is taken.
The company has begun sending emails to affected individuals informing them that the move is intended to protect private information and prevent unauthorized access to their accounts, even if they are no longer using the services.
Losing access to a Gmail account also prevents users from using other online platforms and services associated with that email address, even if they are not associated with Google.
The company recommends that users keep their accounts active and avoid deletion by opening or sending emails while logged into their accounts, using Google Drive, downloading apps through the Google Play Store, or searching through the search engine (Google). All accounts that post videos to YouTube are also unaffected, regardless of their last activity date.