Before you delete your Gmail account, it is important to understand the consequences of this action. Users can easily learn how to delete a Gmail account but not the aftermath. Remember that deleting your Gmail account means losing access to all the associated data, including emails, contacts, and other information.
Any other third-party accounts or services linked to your Gmail account will also be affected. If you’ve decided to delete your Gmail account, then you can follow the methods mentioned on this page. The steps and method of deleting a Gmail account permanently may vary depending on the device you’re using, Android, iPhone, or PC.
NOTE: Before you learn how to delete your Gmail account, back up your data and ensure that any linked services or devices are not negatively impacted. You can visit the Google Account’s homepage to find the linked services and review them manually. By following these guidelines, you can confidently and efficiently delete your Gmail account.
Difference Between Removing And Deleting A Gmail Account?
Currently, in Gmail, two options are available for getting rid of an account: Removing and Deleting. These may sound similar, but they have different meanings and outcomes. Removing a Gmail account means removing or disconnecting it from your device or app.
After doing it, you’ll no longer see emails from that account on that particular device or app. However, the account will still exist and can be accessed from other devices or apps. On the other hand, when you delete a Gmail account, you will permanently get rid of it. All the data associated with the account will be deleted and cannot be recovered.
So, removing a Gmail account can be a temporary solution if you want to pause its activities. While deleting a Gmail account is permanent and cannot be undone (in most cases). So, if you have cluttered your account, then deleting it is the right choice. However, if you want to disconnect the account from a particular device or app, removing it is the better option.
Can You Recover Deleted Gmail Account?
Deleting a Gmail account is permanent and cannot be undone, as Google immediately deletes all associated data permanently. Thus, it’s important to consider the decision carefully and ensure you’ve backed up any important data associated with your Gmail account before proceeding.
Various online guides and tutorials teach how to back up Gmail or Google account data, and you can follow them. Instead of using third-party tools or services, use Google Takeout to back up and download your data in the desired format.
How To Delete Gmail Account Permanently?
So, now you know the difference between deleting and removing a Gmail account from your devices. It doesn’t matter if you use an Android phone or iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, or PC; you can always remove Gmail accounts from that.
However, the steps and methods are pretty different on all, and below we have shared the guide that tells how to remove Gmail accounts from laptop computers and mobile devices.
1. Use Delete A Google Service Option:
So, the first and easiest method to delete a Gmail account is by using the default option in Google’s Account Management section. To follow this process, you must use a web browser on a PC or mobile device. You can follow the same method if you don’t know how to delete your Gmail account.
- First, go to -> https://myaccount.google.com/
- Log in with your Google account.
- Now click on Data & Privacy on the left-side pane.
- Under Your Data & Privacy options, click on Data From Apps and Services You Use.
- You will be scrolled down to the section.
- In the Download or Delete Your Data section, click on Delete A Google Service.
- A list of all services associated with your account will show up.
- Simply click on the Bin Icon in front of Gmail.
A pop-up will appear asking you to enter another email address used with other Google services like Calendar, Docs, Google Play, etc. It can’t be a Gmail account, so you must use other email services like Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.
- Enter an email address and click on Send Verification Email.
- A confirmation email will be sent to your email.
- Open the email and click on the Verification link.
- Tick Mark the box on the confirmation page and click Delete Gmail.
Doing this will initiate your Gmail account’s deletion process. It is the right time to update those connections if you are logged in with the same browser, app, and service account. While this process is manual, Google offers automatic account deletion if the account stays inactive for a certain period. The service is called Inactive Account Manager, and you can follow the below process to configure it.
- Go to this URL -> https://myaccount.google.com/inactive
- Click on Decide When Google Should Consider Your Google Account Inactive.
- Modify the time after which your account will be marked as inactive. By default, the option will be set to 3 months.
- Add a Phone Number and Recovery Email, then click Next.
- You can skip the Choose Who To Notify & What To Share option if you don’t want to send a notification to anyone about your account’s inactivity period.
- Configure or skip the step, then click on Next.
- In the Decide If Your Inactive Google Account Should Be Deleted section, use the Toggle Button to TURN ON the Yes, Delete My Inactive Google Account option.
- After that, click on the Review Plan button, then on Confirm Plan.
If your account stays inactive for the time you’ve set up, the contacts entered will be notified. If none of them takes any action or you don’t log in to your account, the account, associated services, and every data will permanently be deleted by Google.
2. On Android:
If you use an Android device, you can delete your account from the Google or Gmail app. It is very easy to do, and you must tap on the same options we just did in the abovementioned method.
Remember that you must delete only the Gmail account from your phone, not the whole Google account, since other apps and services, like Google Play Store, games, device settings, etc., are linked to your account. If you want to learn how to remove your Gmail account from Android, then follow the steps below.
- First, open either Google App or Gmail app.
- Now, click on the Profile Icon available in the top-right corner of the screen.
- A pop-up will appear; click on the Manage Your Google Account option.
- You will be taken to a new page.
- Click on the Data and Privacy option.
- Scroll down to the Data From Apps and Services You Use section and click on the Delete A Google Service option.
- You will be asked to re-enter your Google account password. Enter it and click on Next.
- Now you can click on the Bin Icon in front of the Gmail app.
- Follow the verification as we have mentioned above to delete your Gmail account.
3. On iPhone
You can’t delete Gmail in bulk because of security and privacy reasons. Whenever you delete an email account from your phone, it will ask you to provide the current password, recovery information to backup WhatsApp to Google Drive, or something to prove your ownership. Even though iOS devices are more secure, deleting a Gmail account remains the same.
If you’ve seen and understood the steps to delete a Gmail account on Android or PC devices, then you can use the same Gmail app and follow the steps mentioned above on your iOS devices. Still, if you want to learn how to delete your Gmail account from the app on iOS devices like iPhones and iPad, then you can follow the steps below.
- Open the Gmail app and click on the Menu Icon in the top-left corner.
- Click on Settings and then tap on the account you want to delete.
- On the new page, click on the Manage Your Google Account option.
- Go to the Data and Personalisation tab and click Delete A Service or Your Account.
- Under Delete A Google Service, click on the Delete A Service option.
- Now you can get a data backup by clicking on the Download Data button.
- When you are ready, click on the Bin Icon before the Gmail app to delete your account.
- Follow the verification process mentioned above to confirm your account deletion.
After deleting your account, don’t forget to remove it from the device’s settings and consider using a new email account. This will ensure your current data stays synced with an account online. If you were using iCloud services with the Gmail account you’ve just deleted, you must modify it again by going to your iCloud Settings. Here’s how you can remove the Gmail account from an iOS device.
- Open Settings -> Contacts.
- Click on Accounts -> Gmail and then click on Delete Account.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Well, the answer to this question is both Yes and No. When you create a new Gmail account, the username associated with that address gets stored in Google systems. You will be able to remove or delete your Gmail account, Google will delete the files and services associated with that account after some time, but the username won’t get released.
If you want to disconnect your Gmail from the Google Account because you are facing apps keep crashing problem, then you can do it by entering the account’s security settings. Use a web browser and log in with your Google account; click on the profile icon, then on Manage Your Google Account. Then click on Security -> Signing Into Other Sites -> Manage Third-Party Access. Find the Gmail app and click on Remove Access.
When a person deletes his/her Gmail account, all the data associated with the account, like contacts, files, and email addresses, will also be deleted. Google does notify the user that the data can’t be recovered again once the account is deleted. Also, if you use Gmail with other services, access to them will be lost too.
There’s no harm in deleting old or new email accounts if you don’t need them. If you think the email account is not being used anywhere or have been receiving only spam emails, getting rid of it might be the best choice. Don’t forget to add a recovery mode before deleting it to get it back when needed.
Many people try to reverse their decision, and almost every service provider knows that. Don’t worry; Google won’t delete your account instantly but keeps it in its database for a few days or weeks. However, it is not the same in every case, and sometimes the data and account can be deleted right after you initiate the process. So, take your decision wisely.
Final Words:
Deleting a Gmail account is a big decision, but the process is very simple. We have tried to cover various methods for deleting a Gmail account on Android, iOS, and PC devices. We hope you know the important differences between removing and deleting a Gmail account and why it is nearly impossible to recover a deleted one.
You can always follow the steps outlined in the methods mentioned above to confidently and efficiently delete your Gmail account from your devices. Keep visiting the New Vision Theatres website as we will add more methods to deleting Gmail accounts from phone and PC devices. You can also connect with us via the comments below if you want assistance with something mentioned on this page.
Hi, I am Anshul Mathur. A Cisco Certified Network Associate and Blogger from Sikar, Rajasthan. I love digging deep into the technology world, therefore I write about it on this blog.
