Google Will Start Deleting Inactive Accounts This Week

In the early days of cloud storage and digital photos, many of us would take advantage of the free cloud storage from tech companies like Google. When we reached the storage limit, we’d simply create another account and start filling that one as well.

Fast forward to May of this year, and Google announced a policy change stating they will begin to delete inactive accounts starting May 1. If you have one of these long forgotten accounts, your photos and data could be lost forever.

What is the Policy?

You can read the full policy on Google, but basically any personal account that has not been active in two years is subject to deletion. This does not apply to accounts set up for you through work or school. Google says it will send emails to both the gmail address and account recovery address prior to deletion. And it says it’s starting with the least used accounts first — those that were created to login to a service and then never used again, for example. So it may be a bit before it gets to your old college gmail account, but you should take action now to ensure you don’t lose your account, photos, and other data.

What Should You Do Right Now?

To preserve your account, all you need to do is login. Google counts the simple act of logging in as activity, so that will reset the two-year timer for your account to be considered inactive. If you’re unsure if you’ve logged in to your Google account since 2021, login in now just to be sure. While you’re in the account, you may want to download any old photos, contacts, important emails, and other info you’d like to preserve just in case you forget to log in again before the two years is up.

Should You Just Delete the Account Altogether?

Yes, if you no longer use the account it’s best to delete it after you’ve downloaded any photos and data you want to preserve. It’s a good digital hygiene practice to periodically review online accounts you have set up and delete those you no longer need. This applies not only to Google accounts but any old apps and services you no longer use. Old accounts pose a security risk because they were often set up with re-used passwords that may have since been compromised, don’t have more modern security measures like two factor identification activated, and aren’t monitored closely by the account owner. Information in the accounts like personal photos, contacts, calendar appointments, saved credit card information, and more are vulnerable to loss or theft.

Now is a good time to review not only old Google accounts, but accounts with all apps and services you no longer use. Download any important photos and information you’d like to preserve and delete the account. At the very least, consider changing your password to a unique, strong password and set up two-factor identification.

How Can You Protect Your Photos Going Forward?

And regarding your precious photos, this policy change by Google is a good reminder of why it’s never wise to rely on a big-tech company as your main photo storage method. Google provides Google Photos storage to its users as a convenience, but it’s not anywhere near the top of their business priorities. It’s certainly not wrong for them to make business decisions based on factors like improving security or the delivery of their content and services to their users. But your photos might get lost in the shuffle.

Apps and services that were created and developed for the sole purpose of managing photos collections are always the best bet. Two good options are FOREVER.com and Mylio Photos, but there are plenty of others as well. If you just want a storage solution without all of the photo management bells and whistles, you can simply store your photo files in the “little yellow folders” on your computer or hard drive — as long as they are double-backed up with one backup copy in a cloud service like OneDrive or Dropbox and a second backup copy with a true backup service like Backblaze or Apple’s Time Machine.