How to Delete a Gmail Account, Completely: Step by Step Know it All
To delete your Gmail account, you’ll need to have access to a desktop web browser. Gmail apps do not have the deletion feature, and mobile browsers are a bit awkward to use during this process. It’s also worth noting that your e-mail address will no longer work, so make sure you have your contacts up to date and stored elsewhere.
How to delete a Gmail account:
- Visit Google’s centralized account page: https://myaccount.google.com
- Click the sign-in button in the top right corner.
- Sign in using the details for the Gmail account you’re going to delete.
- In the topic boxes at the center of the page, look for “Account Preferences”
- Click “Delete your account or services”
- On the next page, click “Delete products”
- Enter your password again.
- Download a backup copy of your data before you delete it. See the instructions below for more information.
- Click the trash can icon next to Gmail.
- If you have other active Google services, you’ll need to enter an alternate e-mail.
- Send a verification e-mail to this alt account.
- Check your other e-mail address for the verification message.
- Click the link in the e-mail to verify your new sign-in address.
- Enter your new sign-in e-mail and your Gmail account deletion will be complete.
How to Delete Gmail and Other Google Accounts
Getting rid of Gmail not enough? Through the same process, Google allows you to delete your Gmail, YouTube, AdSense, and most other Google service accounts all through the same interface. You can pick and choose which pieces of data you want to remove and which ones you want to keep, so if you want to reclaim a big chunk of your privacy from Google, this is the way to do it.
How to delete multiple Google product accounts:
- Visit Google’s centralized account page: https://myaccount.google.com
- Click the sign-in button in the top right corner.
- Sign in using the details for the Gmail account you’re going to delete.
- In the topic boxes at the center of the page, look for “Account Preferences”
- Click “Delete your account or services”
- On the next page, click “Delete Google Account and data”
- Enter your password again.
- Backup your data before you delete it. See the instructions below for more information.
- Check both boxes at the bottom of the screen acknowledging the process.
- Click “Delete account”
How to Recover a Deleted Gmail Account
If you already deleted your Gmail account, didn’t keep a backup, and suddenly regret the decision, all might not be lost. Data often remains on Google’s servers for as many as seven days after you remove your account, making it possible to do a quick recovery through a web interface. If more than a week has passed since your deletion, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to recover anything.
How to recover a deleted Gmail account:
- Visit Google’s recovery page: https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery
- Enter the e-mail or phone number used to sign into the account you wish to recover.
- Click the “Try to restore account” link.
- Enter the password you used with the account.
- If too much time hasn’t passed, your account will automatically be restored.
Delete All E-mails instead of Deleting Your Gmail Account
Deleting your entire Gmail account carries one big drawback: your e-mail address will no longer be active. Anyone looking to get in touch with you will need a current e-mail address, and we all know how annoying it can be to make sure every single relevant contact knows you’re changing e-mails.
A nice in-between solution is to simply delete all of your Gmail content but leave the address intact. Your messages won’t be around for advertising scans, and you can check the account every week or so and slowly transfer your contacts over to a new e-mail. Before long you won’t have anything left in Gmail, at which point it’s safe to delete the entire account, if you like.
How to delete all of your Gmail e-mails:
- From anywhere in your Gmail account, click on the search box at the top and type “in:anywhere”, without the quotation marks.
- Press enter. All of your e-mail will be loaded, unfiltered, and including spam.
- Click the down arrow in the small box to the left of the “Refresh” button.
- Choose “All”
- A note will appear just above your e-mails: “All 100 conversations on this page are selected. Select all ...........conversations in All Mail”
- Click the underlined portion of the note to select all of your e-mail.
- Click the “Delete” button above your e-mail list.
- Click “OK” in the confirmation dialogue.
- E-mails sent to the trash will be automatically removed and unrecoverable after 30 days.
- If you don’t want to wait 30 days, go to your trash folder by clicking the link on the left nav menu. You may need to click the “more” label to expand the list.
- Click the “Empty Trash now” link at the top.
- Click “OK” in the confirmation dialogue to clear your deleted e-mails.
With your e-mails removed, there are still a few things you should check in Gmail’s interface to make sure all of your private data has been cleared.
- Remove your labels by going to Settings > Labels
- Delete alternative and alias accounts by going to Settings > Accounts and Import
- Remove your custom filters under Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses
- Clear any forwarding addresses from Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP
Backup Your Data Before Deleting Gmail
Removing your data from Google’s servers doesn’t mean you have to lose access to it for good. Google offers a quick and convenient way to create backups of all of your information, including Gmail, Photos, Google Drive, and YouTube. Before you delete your Gmail account, be sure to download a backup and store it on your computer or in a cloud storage service for safe keeping.
How to backup Gmail data:
- Click the “backup” link during the deletion process, or go tohttps://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout
- Choose the Google services you want to backup
- Click “next”
- Select the archive format. A .zip file delivered via e-mail is the most common
- Click “Create archive” at the bottom
- Google will collect and archive your data
- If you chose delivery via e-mail, make sure you retrieve the file from Gmail before deleting your account
Increase Security on Your Gmail Account
Sometimes we’re tied to the e-mail address and service we’re currently using. Businesses often use Gmail as their chosen form of corporate communication. And you have to admit, the service does offer a ton of useful customization features and a wonderful mobile app. There are a few things you can do to help increase security on your Gmail account.
- Enable HTTPS – Gmail allows you to toggle your connection style between HTTPS, or secure, and standard HTTP. You should always have HTTPS turned on without exception. Make sure “Always use https” is active under Settings > General in your Gmail account.
- Check account access – Gmail allows users to grant access to their account to other users, a feature largely reserved for families or work environments. If someone gains access to your Gmail for some reason, however, it’s easy for them to keep access to your e-mail without your knowledge. Go to Settings > Accounts and Import and look under “Grant access to your account” to see if any other addresses are listed.
- Check access authorization – Lots of websites and apps like to request access to Google and Gmail for sign-in and communication purposes. You always have the option of revoking this request when a third party makes it, but sometimes we grant access without thinking about it, then forget to remove it later on. This can lead to some strange security breaches. Visit Google’s permissions page and scroll down the list to see which services have access to your Google and Gmail accounts. Click the ones you want to remove, then click the big “remove” button to revoke access.
- Monitor your forwarding addresses – Another great Gmail feature is the ability to automatically forward e-mail to other addresses. Again, if someone gains temporary access to your Gmail account, they can set themselves up as a forwarding agent and read everything you write. Visit Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP to see which addresses also receive your e-mail. Remove anything that isn’t absolutely necessary.
- Track account activity – Google keeps detailed logs of all account logins and activity. While this may seem a little creepy at first, it’s actually a fantastic way to monitor your own accounts for suspicious events. Visit Google’s sign-in and security page to see which devices have accessed your Google account, when, and from which location. If anything looks out of place, click the “Secure your account” link at the top of the page to take action. Thanks
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