Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

By Arthur Moses Opio

Key Takeaways

• Changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in your Google Account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to any Google service for over two years.
• The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in to the account at least once every two years.
• Some accounts have exceptions like A Google Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments, gift card with monetary balance, etc.

Updating Your Google Account Inactivity Policy

This morning, the 15th of August, 2023. Many Google users got notifications in their email addresses about "Google Inactivity Account Policy".

Google said and I quote;

"We are updating the inactivity period for a Google Account to two years across all our products and services. This change starts rolling out today and will apply to any Google Account that’s been inactive, meaning that it has not been signed in to or used within a two-year period. An inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion from 1 December 2023."

This basically means that if your Google account is inactive you stand a chance of having it deleted but this is after two years. A two years grace period gives someone chance to get up to speed with the usage.

As we all know, a number of things are happening online in regards to email exchange, google meets, Google drive storage, etc.

Google will however says,

• These changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in your Google Account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to any Google service for over two years.
• While the changes go into effect today(15 August, 2023), the earliest that we would enforce any account deletion would be December 2023.
• If your account is considered inactive, we will send several reminder emails to both you and your recovery emails (if any have been provided) before we take any action or delete any account content. These reminder emails will go out at least eight months before any action is taken on your account.
• After a Google Account is deleted, the Gmail address for the deleted account cannot be used again when creating a new Google Account.

Keeping Your Account Active

These are some of the ways, Google suggests that you keep your account active.

First they say, “The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in to the account at least once every two years. If you have signed in to your Google Account recently in the last two years, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.”

Besides signing in. The are other ways suggested by Google;

• Reading or sending an email
• Using Google Drive
• Watching a YouTube video
• Sharing a photo
• Downloading an app
• Using Google Search
• Use Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service

Exceptions To The Two Year Policy

Google says, There are some exceptions to this policy.

Examples include:

• A Google Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments;
• An account that has a gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play Store.
• Other exceptions to this policy are available here.