How To Delete a Gmail Account Permanently: A Step-by-Step Guide

Key Points:

• Deleting a Google email address doesn’t remove it from all of Google’s services. Other Google services like Calendar and Docs, and associated data like pictures won’t be affected. 
• If you have important data in your Gmail account that isn’t backed up elsewhere, deleting your account could mean losing access to those files forever—unless they’re stored in Google Drive.
• Social media accounts cannot be recovered with the help of your Gmail account once it’s been deleted.

Google’s Gmail is the most popular email service worldwide. But if you’re not happy with it, there are a few simple steps you can take to delete your account.

Maybe you have an old email address and want to get rid of the junk messages sent to that account. Or perhaps you just made an error when signing up for a new account and want to get rid of it.

That’s why we’ve created this step-by-step guide to permanently deleting your Gmail account. But before you delete your account, you should know a few things.

A Few Things To Know Before Deleting Your Gmail Account

It’s a big decision to delete your Gmail address, and there are some things you should know before you decide to do it. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Deleting an email address doesn’t remove it from all of Google’s services. It won’t affect your other Google services like Calendar or Docs. It also won’t impact any associated data like documents and pictures. 
2. Your contacts will still have access to the messages you sent them or that they sent you before you deleted your account. But if they try to email you after your account is gone, there won’t be anything for them to see — just an error message saying, “The address [email] does not exist.”
3. If you have important data in your Gmail account that isn’t backed up elsewhere, deleting your account could mean losing access to those files forever—unless they’re stored in Google Drive. So make sure you’ve taken steps to back up any information in your account before proceeding with this process.
4. Social media accounts cannot be recovered with the help of your Gmail account once it’s been deleted. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. So, make sure you have an alternative email account connected to each one before deleting your Gmail account.

Step 1: Sign in to Your Google Account

To delete your Gmail account, you’ll need to sign in to your Google account first. To do this, go to gmail.com and enter your email address and password. If you have two-factor authentication enabled for your account, you’ll also need to enter the code sent to your mobile device before accessing your account.

Step 2: Go to Your Google Account Settings

Once you’re logged in, go to your Google Account settings page by clicking on your profile image from the top navigation bar in your browser. Next, click the Manage Your Google Account button. 

This will open up a page with several sections containing information about your account, such as your personal information, data and privacy settings, and payment and subscription settings.

Step 3: Select Data & Privacy

Once on your Google account settings page, click on Data & privacy. You will find this, along with other settings, on the left-hand side of the page.

Step 4: Download Your Data First

If you have a lot of emails in your Gmail account and want to keep them, you can download them to your computer first. This is helpful if you plan on using a different email service, like Outlook or Thunderbird.

The download feature is free if you want to keep a copy of your Gmail data. Once you’ve deleted your account, you can use this tool to get everything from emails to contacts and photos. To do so, click on the Download your data option.

The next page will ask whether you want to download all or just some of your data.  Click on Create archive and accept the terms of the pop-up service window that appears. The process will begin immediately and should take only a few minutes to complete, depending on how much data you have stored on your account.

Step 5: Delete Your Gmail Account

It is possible to either delete an individual Google service or your entire Google account. Click on Delete a Google service if you only want to remove your Gmail account, and click on Delete your Google account if you wish to delete your entire Google account.

Click on Delete a Google service to delete only your Gmail account. On the next page, you will be prompted to re-enter your password and sign in. 

Step 6: Finalize the Deletion 

If you don’t want to lose your data, you have the option of backing it up on this page. If you click on Download your data, it will take you to a different page. From there, you can follow the instructions laid out to back up your emails.

You can also choose whether or not you wish to include attachments and labels in your download. This will allow you to save your email contacts and other information that may be useful in the future. When you’re ready to delete your account, return to this page and click on the small delete icon. 

You will be prompted to enter an alternative email to send a verification link. Once entered, click on Send Verification Email. Make sure to use an alternative email address that you have access to; you will need it to proceed with the deletion of your account.

Once you’ve verified the link by going to that email, your Gmail account will be permanently deleted. You must understand that once you delete your account, all your emails will be deleted and cannot be recovered.

How to Delete Your Gmail Account on iOS or Android

Deleting your Gmail account from an iPhone or Android device is similar to the process above. Instead of using your desktop browser, you can use your mobile browser.

To do so, go to google.com and tap on your device’s profile picture or initials in the top right corner. Click on Manage your Google Account. From there, just follow steps 2 through 10.

What Happens to Emails in the Deleted Gmail Account?

Google has a policy of permanently deleting emails from your Gmail account after 30 days. If you have enabled two-step verification on your Google account, you can recover them within 30 days of deleting your account. After that, your data will be gone forever.

Suppose you do not have two-factor authentication enabled on your account and want to recover the emails before 30 days. In that case, you need to contact their customer service team directly and ask for help.

A Few Other Things To Consider

If you’re thinking about deleting your Gmail account, you should know a few things. You can’t just permanently delete your Gmail account and sign up again using that same username. Instead, Google will turn it into a “dormant” account. You won’t be able to sign in again with this username afterward because it will be taken out of circulation altogether.

All your archive data associated with your Gmail account will be deleted permanently. This includes all the emails sent or received by you and any emails sent or received by the people who emailed you. This includes any attachments associated with those emails (such as photos and documents).

Summary

We outlined six simple steps you can follow to delete your Gmail account. Remember that you can’t undo this process. If you change your mind after the fact, there’s no turning back. You can go ahead and create another one if you like, but it can’t be linked in any way to your old email account.

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