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Google · Inactive Account Manager

What happens to your Google account when you die

Gmail, Photos, Drive and years of your life sit behind one Google login. Here is what happens to it, and the one setting that lets you decide.

Legacy settingOfficial help centre

What happens if nothing is set up

A Google account does not close itself when its owner dies. It simply goes quiet. Emails keep arriving, photos stay in storage and any subscriptions linked to the account may keep billing until someone steps in.

Google offers a request process for immediate family and estate representatives. Through it they can ask for the account to be closed, and in some cases ask for certain content or funds. Each request is reviewed individually, and Google is clear that it cannot promise to release data or give anyone the password.

Separately, Google's inactive account policy allows it to delete personal accounts that have not been used for a long period, currently two years. That means family photos and documents can disappear if no one acts and no plan exists.

Steps

How to set up Inactive Account Manager

Inactive Account Manager is Google's own legacy tool. It takes about ten minutes and can be changed at any time.

  1. Open the setting

    Sign in and go to myaccount.google.com/inactive, or search for 'Inactive Account Manager' in your Google Account.

  2. Choose a waiting period

    Pick how long your account should be inactive before Google acts. Google will try to reach you by email and phone before anything happens.

  3. Add trusted contacts

    Add up to 10 people to be notified. For each one, choose whether they can download some of your data and which products it covers.

  4. Write an optional message

    You can add a short note that Google sends to your contacts when the time comes.

  5. Decide about deletion

    Choose whether Google should delete the account once the waiting period ends and your contacts have been notified.

  6. Tell your contacts

    Let each person know they are listed, so a message from Google does not arrive as a surprise or end up in spam.

Google's screens and options change from time to time, so check the current wording on Google's own help pages as you go.

What your family can request

Without Inactive Account Manager, immediate family or the estate's representative can submit a request to Google about a deceased user's account.

  • Closing the account of the person who died
  • In some cases, obtaining certain data from the account
  • In some cases, recovering funds held in the account
  • No request gives them the password or the ability to sign in

Documents usually requested

  • A death certificate
  • Government ID for the person making the request
  • Documents showing their relationship or legal authority, which may include a court order for data requests

Policies change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm on each service's own help pages.

FAQ

Questions about Google

Not by default. Google will not hand over a password. If you named them in Inactive Account Manager, they can download the data you chose. Otherwise they can request certain data, and Google decides case by case.

You choose the waiting period when you set up Inactive Account Manager. Google tries to contact you before it notifies anyone or deletes anything.

Yes. Under its current policy Google may delete personal accounts that have been inactive for two years, so photos and files can be lost if no one acts.

It only covers Google. Many people also leave a written note for their executor listing every account and what they want done, for example as a sealed note in Sealkept that is delivered only if they stop checking in.

Other services

Other accounts to plan for

Back to all accounts

Related reading

One service at a time. Or the whole picture at once.

Write one sealed note to your executor in Sealkept listing every account and what you want done. It's delivered only if you stop checking in.

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