Google Updates Account Inactivity Policy to 2 Years

Google announced today that it is updating its inactivity policy for personal Google Accounts to two years across all of its products. The policy goes into effect later this year and does not affect Workspace accounts for businesses or schools.

“Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least ten times less likely than active accounts to have 2-step verification set up,” Google vice president Ruth Kricheli writes in the announcement post. “Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam … if an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised.”

To combat this issue, Google will delete any personal accounts and all of their contents—including anything in Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), YouTube, and Google Photos—if they have not been used or signed into for at least years. This policy goes into effect in December 2023 and will be rolled out slowly, and starting with accounts that were created and never used again. Customers will be notified via their primary and recovery email addresses multiple times before the account is closed.

To keep your personal Google account active, you just need to sign in to it at least once every two years and access Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, the Google Play Store, Google Search, or a third-party app or service. Accounts with active subscriptions set up through the Play Store are also considered active.