Inactive Google accounts to be deleted from Friday

If you've got an old Google account that you have not used for a couple of years then it could soon be deleted.

The tech giant is going to be getting rid of them, starting from Friday, under its inactive account policy.

The company said it would take a phased approach, starting with accounts that "were created and never used again".

Simply signing into an account or sending an email should be enough to keep it active.

Google said the change was because of security reasons, highlighting that forgotten and unused accounts are more likely to be compromised.

A Google account gives users access to most Google products, such as email service Gmail and video sharing site YouTube, using the same username and password.

In a blog post in May, the tech giant said the reason old accounts are more vulnerable is because they tend to rely on old or re-used passwords and largely have not had two-factor authentication set up.

Once an account has been abused, it can be used for anything from identity theft to malicious content and spam.

How to save your account

In a lot of cases, signing in should be enough to keep your Google account active for another two years.

Google also said reading or sending an email using Google Drive or watching a YouTube video could help.

Once you log in, having an accessible recovery email address associated with your account is a good idea - this means you'll be able to receive the notifications.

A recovery email address is one you give that helps you reset your password if you forget it.

Google said that both affected accounts as well as their recovery email addresses have been emailed to warn of impending deletion.

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Separately, people are being warned they will need to specifically sign in to Google photos every two years to be considered active, which will ensure your photos and other content are not deleted. Again you will receive a warning.

Google accounts created for someone by their work or school will be unaffected by the deletion policy, the firm said.

Accounts which have bought an ongoing Google service or subscription, or are used to manage a child's active account using Google's Family Link feature, are among those which may be considered actively used and exempt from the deletion policy.

Users should not worry if they have signed into their accounts recently, as that means it is considered active and will not be deleted.