Deleting your Google Account: A step-by-step guide
IONOS editorial team4 mins
You can delete your Google Account at any time, but beware that you won’t be able to recover your account if you change your mind. Even if you do decide to recover your account, all personal data associated with it will be gone. But you can stay on the safe side by preparing your account for possible recovery and providing another email address or phone number. The full process is detailed in the following Support Guide. In this way, you’ll at least be able to restore your profile after a longer period of time.
If you delete your Google profile, you will lose access to the Google services that require you to sign in with an account - such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Play, or Google Calendar. In addition, all data and content (such as emails, files, photos, bookmarks or calendar entries) associated with these services will be lost. Accessing subscriptions or paid content purchased from YouTube or Google Play will also no longer be possible after you delete your Google Account. Also, as an Android user, you can no longer download or update apps from the Play Store or save files to Google Drive.
Google gives you the ability to export and download data from the services you use. In just a few steps, you can create an archive that you can still access even if your Google account is deleted. The search engine giant provides a detailed guide in its support forum.
If you use your Gmail address for other web services such as online banking or social networking, you should provide a different contact address for these services before deleting your Google account.
How do I delete my Google Account?
Once you've made all desired preparations, you can delete your Google account as described in the following step-by-step instructions.
Step 1: Sign into your Google Account
The first step is to access the central settings menu of your Google Account. Visit the Google account page and click on "Sign in". Then enter your login data and click "Continue" to sign in.
Step 2: View account settings
Once you're logged into your Google profile, click on the “Privacy & Personalization” tab to access your account's settings menu. Here, you can view payments, purchases, subscriptions, change your language preferences, manage your Google Drive storage, and more.
Step 3: Open the “download, delete or make a plan for your data” menu.
Scroll down the account settings until you find the item "Delete a service or your account". You will then be prompted again to enter a password. It's the same password you used to sign into your Google account at the beginning.
Step 4: Delete your Google account
You are now at the point where you can finally delete your Google account. First of all, Google will provide you with information (including a link to click on) about the aforementioned option to download certain data before deleting your Google account. You will then receive a detailed (but not necessarily complete) list of the contents that will be deleted when the account is closed.
Finally, you must confirm that you will be responsible for all running costs of any outstanding financial transactions (under certain circumstances, some earnings won’t be paid out). You will also need to confirm that you give permission for your Google account to be deleted permanently and any associated information to be deleted. To do this, simply check the appropriate boxes:
Now click on "DELETE ACCOUNT" to close your account. You will then receive a confirmation message from Google.
