Google Inactive Account Manager: how it works and its limits
If you use Gmail, Google Photos or Google Drive, a lot of your life sits in one Google Account. Google's Inactive Account Manager lets you decide what happens to it if you stop using it, for example after you die. It's free and takes about ten minutes to set up. Here's how it works, and what it doesn't cover.
What it does
You choose how long Google should wait before treating your account as inactive. When that time is up, Google can:
- Notify up to 10 people you've chosen, with a message you wrote in advance.
- Share selected data with them, such as photos, emails or documents, through a download link.
- Delete your account, if that's what you prefer.
You can also set an automatic Gmail reply, so people who email you after your account becomes inactive receive a message from you.
How Google decides you're inactive
You pick the waiting period: when Google introduced the current version, it offered 3, 6, 12 or 18 months. To tell whether you're still using your account, Google looks at several signals, including your last sign-ins, your activity in My Activity, Gmail use and Android check-ins. About a month before the time is up, Google warns you by text message and email, so a long trip away from your phone won't set it off by mistake.
What your contacts receive
Your contacts aren't told anything when you set it up. Once your account becomes inactive, each one gets an email with the subject and message you wrote. If you chose to share data with them, the email lists what's included and links to download it. According to Google, they then have three months to download it, and they'll need the phone number you entered for them, to receive a verification code.
You can treat contacts differently: one person might only be told, while another can also download your photos.
How to set it up
- Go to myaccount.google.com/inactive and sign in.
- Choose the waiting period, and check the phone number and email address Google will use to warn you.
- Add up to 10 contacts. For each one, choose whether they're only notified or can also download data, and which Google services to include.
- Write the message they'll receive.
- If you like, turn on an automatic Gmail reply.
- Choose whether Google should delete your account afterward.
- Save, then tell your contacts to expect an email from Google one day, so they don't mistake it for spam.
What it doesn't cover
- Only Google. It hands over Google data, not your bank, other email accounts, social media or the passwords to anything else.
- No access to your account. Contacts get copies of the data you chose. They can't sign in as you.
- Not for every account. Accounts managed by an employer or school, such as Google Workspace accounts, may not have it.
- It has to stay current. If a contact changes phone number, they may not be able to verify, so review your plan once a year.
If you don't set it up
Under Google's inactive account policy, a personal Google Account that hasn't been used for two years may be deleted, with its content, after several warnings. Families can also submit a request about a deceased person's account. Google may close it, and in some cases provide some of its content, but it decides case by case and asks for documents such as a death certificate. Setting up Inactive Account Manager in advance is far more reliable.
How it compares with Apple
Apple's equivalent, Legacy Contact, works differently: nothing happens automatically, and your contact requests access with an access key and a death certificate. See our guide to Apple Legacy Contact. Neither tool passes on the passwords for your other accounts; for that, see what happens to your passwords when you die.