If you’re planning to delete your Gmail account entirely, it’s best to take care of everything connected to it. However, if you don’t know what to do or want to be sure not to miss anything, this article will serve as a guide. After reading, you’ll learn how to backup, delete, and recover a Gmail account.
Table of Contents
What is a Gmail Account?
Before deletion, it’s a safe practice to learn about the anatomy of a Gmail account.
Gmail, or Google Mail, is Google’s email service. After launching in 2004, the company has removed and incorporated numerous features from it. As a result, the current version turns out as well-designed, highly-functional, and cross-platform appropriate.
Similar to other email providers, while creating a new gmail account, you’ll decide on a unique @gmail.com name. Even if you delete it, no one, including you, can reclaim that particular name. Regardless of the status, anyone can still send a message to that email.
Initially, Google popularized the unified sign-in method through the Gmail account. Currently, Apple, Microsoft, and many other tech companies have the same or similar system. Considering that, the next section talks about how a Gmail account connects to Google’s services and external sign-ins.
Google Workplace Account
If you want to delete a G Suite account, please read on.
Google Workplace, formerly G Suite, is Google’s subscription-based office and productivity service. Like Microsoft 365, in Workplace, you’ll get Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, and many more. Although, without a subscription, the essential services are still accessible in a limited Drive storage allocation.
Since it’s from Google, you need a Gmail account to apply and use Workplace. Considering you’re in a deletion process, backing up work files, communication, or team resources is essential.
Google Services
Like Workplace, Google also uses your Gmail account when you sign-in to its suite of apps. Whether it’s YouTube, Drive, Calendar, Contacts, or Meet, you’ll see your profile icon up top.
While Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms store files on Drive, other Google services’ data is only accessible through their respective portals. Accordingly, when deleting an account, it’s best to check thoroughly where the data are. Please remember, when it’s a Google service or app, you’re using your Gmail account as sign-in.
Websites And Applications Sign-in
Aside from phone numbers, emails are a popular way to create accounts. Gmail, in particular, takes that to an extent.
Apart from a simple email input, you can use what the company calls Sign-in with Google. What does it do? When you’re in a new service or app, you might see different registering options. Commonly, it would be email, phone number, Sign-in with Facebook, Sign-in with Apple, and Sign-in with Google. After that, the service or app will only require logging in with Google quickly.
Suppose you delete your Gmail account; there’s a chance you’re locked from that account forever. Though, some sites can recognize inactive Google accounts during logins and automatically switch them as email. However, some require verification codes from particular deleted Gmail to change emails or sign-in methods. To avoid issues, please check the sites or apps that use your Gmail account before deletion.
Data After Account Deletion
After using a Gmail account for a significant amount of time, many Google services transferred or communicated data to other platforms or individuals. Accordingly, one might wonder if Google will delete these things or not. With this in mind, below are pieces of information about this matter.
Gmail and Hangouts Conversations
After sending messages in Gmail or Hangouts, the mail or chat history will reflect changes. Regarding a deleted account, Google will remove all data, including emails and chats, in the owner’s view. On the other hand, the sender no longer has the authority or ability to view or modify the sent messages on the recipient’s end.
Once the mail arrives in the recipient’s mail server, it will be viewable regardless of whether the sender’s Gmail account is active or deleted. Additionally, all sent emails, from the latest to the oldest, are viewable from their recipients’ inboxes should they didn’t trash them.
YouTube Data
Since Google owns YouTube, a Gmail account must sign in to the streaming platform to use community features and manage a channel. After uploading videos, liking, disliking, posting, and replying to comments, YouTube stores the data to your Google account. Aside from the YouTube dashboard, this platform’s data is also viewable in the Google account panel.
After deleting an account, YouTube will remove all uploaded videos. If a subscriber or another user saved the video for Watch Later, the “Deleted video” text would replace the original title along with the empty thumbnail making it unviewable. Finally, YouTube will eliminate all likes, dislikes, comments, and replies to comments by the account in all videos. Even if a user recovers a deleted account, the streaming platform won’t restore all related data.
Google Calendar Data
In Google Calendar, Google will delete all events, tasks, and reminders of a deleted account. If a user is invited to an event by another account, all data are viewable as per Calendar’s permission. However, if the event owner’s account is deleted, the event will disappear from all invitees. Should it be a custom Google domain account, the administrator can manage or recover shared events made by the deleted account.
Google Contacts and Keep Data
After an account deletion, Google will trash all items saved on Contacts. All contacts, details, stars, and labels, are no longer accessible. If you want to do so, ensuring backups by exporting all or selected contacts in the service’s mobile or web app.
In terms of the Google Keep service, it will remove all notes, checklists, and recordings following account deletion. As notes might contain sensitive or valuable information, it’s best to backup them before anything else. If a deleted account collaborates on a note or two with another user, all shared items will be unviewable on the other end as well. Considering backups are crucial in a deletion process, read more about it in the next section.
How To Backup A Gmail Account?
Before deleting an account, it’s always a good practice to backup files and data, especially if something goes wrong. In this section, you’ll find step-by-step guides on backing up Gmail, Google services, and Google account data.
Backup Gmail
Since it’s a Gmail account, backing up Gmail data first is an ideal move:
1. Visit Google Search, login into your account, and click the nine-dotted menu.
3. Select the “Account” icon.
4. Go to “Data & personalization,” move down to “Things you create and do,” and press “Go to Google Dashboard.”
5. Look for Gmail, press the dropdown button, press the three-dotted menu, and select the “Download data” option.
6. Click the “Next step” button until you see and click the “Create export” button.
7. In “Manage your exports,” click the “Download” button to get your file.
8. Input your password to verify identity and click the “Next” button.
9. Save the file to a folder destination.
Backup Other Google Services
Aside from Gmail, you can also individually export data from each Google service. As an example, Google Calendar is the subject. To do so, please follow these steps:
1. In the “Google Dashboard,” click the Calendar’s dropdown button and then the three-dotted menu.
3. Select the “Download data” option.
4. Click the “Next step” button until you see and click the “Create export” button.
5. In “Manage your exports,” click the “Download” button in line with the “Calendar” item to get your file.
8. Input your password to verify identity and click the “Next” button.
9. Save the file to a folder destination.
Download Your Data
While you can backup data from each Google service individually, it could be time-consuming. As a result, Google provides an option to download all your linked data. The process should look like this:
1. Visit Google Search, login into your account, and click the nine-dotted menu.
2. Select the “Account” icon.
3. Go to “Data & personalization.”
4. Move down to “Download, delete or make a plan for your data” and hit the “Download your data” item.
5. In “Google Takeout,” deselect any service, data, or file to exclude in the export.
6. Click the “Deselect all” text to clear the selection.
7. Scroll down at the end and click the “Next step” button.
8. In “Manage your exports,” click the “Download” button of the first item on the list.
9. Input your password to verify identity and click the “Next” button.
10. Save the file to a folder destination.
11. Click the “takeout” file to open your backup.
How To Delete A Gmail Account?
After backing up the data and files, it’s now safe to learn how to delete an old Gmail account. In the process, it should look like this:
1. On the “Google Account” page, click the “Data & personalization” item on the left sidebar.
2. Scroll down to “Download, delete or make a plan for your data” and hit the “Delete a service or your account” item.
3. Find the “Delete your Google account” divider and click the “Delete your account” text.
4. Input your account’s password and click the “Next” button.
6. On the “Delete your Google Account” page, read all the information about what will happen to your account.
7. Scroll down to the end and tick the two check-boxes acknowledging your responsibility to the account’s pending transactions and confirming the deletion process.
8. Click “CANCEL” to revoke the process or the “DELETE ACCOUNT” to proceed.
9. Google will display a webpage confirming the successful account deletion.
How To Recover A Deleted Gmail Account?
After deleting your Gmail account, Google provides a 30-day limit for recovery. To do so, please read the following steps:
1. After an account deletion, click the “Account support” link text.
2. If you deleted your account days or weeks ago, visit Google’s site.
3. Click the “Sign in” button.
4. Input your account’s password.
5. If Google identifies your account as a recently deleted one, click the “Next” button.
6. If you forgot about your password, click the “Try another way” text.
7. Input another email address and click the “Next” button.
8. Wait for Google’s message in your other email and follow all the instructions to recover your account.
9. If you remember your password, go back, input your password, and press the “Next” button.
10. If the password is correct, you’ll have your account back. Press the “Continue” button to conclude the recovery process.
Boxysuite – Gmail for Mac
After creating or recovering your account, you might want a native program to open and use Gmail on a Mac. Since Gmail and many Google services are only accessible as a web app on desktops, numerous open Chrome tabs can be distracting.
While you can minimize windows and tabs, it’s still not ideal for productivity and work efficiency. When using a browser, there are so many things that can divert your attention. As a result, you’ll get less work done.
Acknowledging this problem, we developed Boxysuite. As a native macOS application, you can access and use Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, and Keep more effectively than their web versions. Enjoy a distraction-free workspace for your notes, schedules, and mails.
If you’re undecided, you can think about Boxysuite’s excellent features such as Notification counter, Offline use, Polished interface, and System-automated Dark Mode and compare them to how limiting Google services’ web apps are. Should you want the best Gmail experience on Mac, please consider Boxysuite.