How to permanently delete your Google account
A Google account gives you access to all of Google’s tools, including Google Drive, Gmail, YouTube, and more. A Google account also gives you access to various Android devices, such asour favorite Android tablets. However, you may want to delete your Google account for several reasons, like if it’s from your childhood or if you want a more privacy-focused service.
Deleting a Google Account is easy whether you want to delete a specific service or your entire Google account. Here, we explain how to delete a Google service or account from any device, what to do before you delete it, and how to make sure it’s gone for good.
Backing up your data
Even if you want to start anew, downloading a copy of your data is a good idea, just in case you need it in the future. To export your data:
Make sure you take this data and put it somewhere safe.
Deleting specific Google services
Now that you’ve exported your data, it’s time to delete it from Google. If you want to delete data from one of Google’s services without deleting the data from your entire account, Google makes that possible.
Your account for that service will be deleted and removed from your Google account.
Deleting your entire Google account on desktop or mobile
If you’ve had enough of Google and want to be done, it’s time to delete your entire account. Before you do this, we recommend backing up your data in case you change your mind. Seriously. Do it. Right now.
Now that you’ve backed up your data, here’s how to delete your account.
RIP to your Google account, but at least you still have your data if you need it.
What happens when I delete my account?
According to Google’sprivacy policy, when you instruct the company to delete your data, it either removes it from its servers entirely or retains only anonymous information. When you request an account deletion, it may take some time for Google to delete all your data:
When you delete data, we follow a deletion process to make sure that your data is safely and completely removed from our servers or retained only in anonymized form. We try to ensure that our services protect information from accidental or malicious deletion. Because of this, there may be delays between when you delete something and when copies are deleted from our active and backup systems.
How to know if your Google account was deleted
There’s a quick and easy way to determine if your Google account was deleted. Go to any Google service you used with your Google account and log in. If you can still log in, then your account is active. If you can’t log in, your account was deleted.
How to recover your Google Account
If you decide that deleting your Google Account was a mistake, you may be able to recover it.
First, go to theGoogle Account recovery page. If a message says,This account was deleted and is no longer recoverableorCouldn’t find your Google Account. Try again, then your Google account cannot be recovered. If you are able to log in, you’ll be prompted to answer some questions. Answer as many questions as you are able. These questions prove to Google that the account is yours, so answer them as accurately as possible. Additionally, you may be asked for an email address to send a verification code to or additional questions after you finish answering the initial questions.
If Google can’t verify that the account belongs to you, you can’t recover the account. You can try to start the process again to prove the account belongs to you.
Goodbye forever Google
Even though a Google Account is a core part of many peoples' online presence, it’s not for everyone. If you decide to delete your Google Account, it’s an easy process after you download your data. After some time apart, if you need Google back in your life,setting up a new Google Accountis simple.
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