Google is deleting Gmail accounts — Tips to keep yours

Google continues to destroy Gmail accounts that haven’t been used in over two years.

Last November, the corporation said that it will delete dormant Google accounts, including Gmail, as part of a big cleanse.

To be classified as inactive, an account must not have logged into any of Google’s services, including Gmail or Google Photos, during the last several years.

Users should get a series of warning emails before their account is terminated.

One user told The Sun that he received a notice in January that his Google account will be canceled on September 20 unless he took action.

Why is Google deleting accounts?

Ruth Kricheli VP, Product Management at Google, said last year: ‘If an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised.’

Ms Kricheli added that the change is necessary to ‘protect our users from security threats, like spam, phishing scams and account hijacking’.

Accounts that have been forgotten or unattended are a lot more likely to have been compromised because they may have out-of-date or re-used passwords andlack a two-factor authentication set up.

‘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,’ Ms Kricheli added.

How to ensure your Gmail account is not deleted

If you only have one Google account and you use it regularly, you obviously have nothing to worry about.

However, if, for example you, have more than one Google account and you use one, for example, purely for storing photos or data and you haven’t accessed it for a long while, it could be at risk.

To make sure the account is not deleted, you can do one of three simple steps.

• Read or send an email in Gmail.
• Share a photo or watch a YouTube video while signed into the relevant Google account.
• Use Google Drive.

As long as you do one of those things at least once a year, your account should remain active.

It’s also worth doing a Google Account Security Check-Up if you have looked at the account for a while.

This ensures you have the necessary security measures in place to keep it protected.

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