We can say that having a Google account is very common, but at the same time almost necessary. Think of all the related services, such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Play… It is possible that you have several accounts from the search giant and that you have certain services linked to each one. Be careful with this, because Google is going to start deleting accounts soon. We explain why and if it will affect you or not.
What happens if you delete your Google account overnight? Probably you would lose a lot of information. All the emails you have in Gmail, the calendar, your YouTube account, access to Android applications… It could really be a major problem, which we certainly wouldn’t want to try.
Google will delete inactive accounts
From Google they have decided put an end to inactive accounts. It will not happen immediately, since they will start in December of this year. It is something that can affect many accounts around the world. Many people have several created and the secondary ones may be used very occasionally, only for certain services, to recover forgotten passwords from other platforms created a long time ago, etc.
But, what are they going to take into account to delete inactive accounts? They will consider that an account is inactive if it has at least 2 years without use. Therefore, if you have one that you want to keep, but for whatever reason you haven’t used it for at least 2 years, you will lose it in a few months. Avoiding it is very simple, since it is enough to use it from time to time.
One reason is the security. Google considers old accounts to be much more insecure than current ones. This is so because it is more common to have weak passwords, created a long time ago, and that can cause a hacker to use brute force methods to gain unwanted access.
Of course, they will not delete the accounts immediately. That is, first they will notify users who have not logged in for more than 2 years and, later, they will delete them. If you have a forgotten account, but you are not interested in losing it, you will receive a message first.
What to do to be an active user
What can you do to be an active user and that Google does not delete the account? They explain that they are going to consider different actions. You can do them easily, so any account you want to keep can be done without much difficulty. You simply need to be aware of what we explain.
You will be able to read or send an email, use Google Drive, watch a YouTube video, download an application from Google Play, use Google search or sign in with the account in a third-party service. With any of these steps, your account will automatically renew for another 2 years and will not be deleted.
Also, for those who have any linked subscription to your account, such as YouTube Premium, these 2 years of inactivity do not apply. It doesn’t matter that they don’t use the account, as it won’t be deleted.
As you can see, if you have an old Google account and you don’t use it frequently, be careful because they are going to start deleting them. It is important that they see that there is activity, something that you can do very easily simply by reading or sending an email. Just as you can prevent Google from displaying personalized results, you can use multiple accounts.
