What Is Google Inactive Account Manager?
Google Inactive Account Manager is a way for users to share parts of their account data or notify someone if they have been inactive for a certain period of time. The user can choose what data to share with their trusted contact in case of inactivity. This can include data from Google Drive, Blogger, Mail, and Youtube.
Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Google does not have the option for Legacy Contact. Instead, account holders can choose a trusted contact to handle their accounts.
How does Google look for account inactivity?
Google looks at several signals to see if a specific user has remained inactive for a certain period of time. This data may include Android check-ins, Gmail usage, last sign-ins and recent activity.
What happens in case of inactivity? How is the trusted contact notified?
A trusted contact’s phone number is to be added while setting up the Inactive Account Manager. In case of inactivity, the trusted contact is notified via email with a subject line and content the user wrote during set-up.
Google also includes a note at the bottom of the email, explaining the user has instructed Google to send an email on their behalf to take action on the shared data. The email might also contain a link to download data shared by the user.
How To Enable Google Inactive Account Manager
- Go to the Inactive Account Manager page and click START.
- In Decide when Google should consider your Google account inactive, select the time period. (default: 3 months)
- Update phone number and email for contact if necessary – Google will send reminders to these details multiple times before marking the account ‘inactive’.
- Users can choose up to 10 people to notify in case of account inactivity. Add contact details.
- Decide if your inactive Google Account should be deleted – the trusted contacts are given 3 months to download shared data. If you choose to delete your Google account, all data on Youtube, Drive, Mail and Blogger will be permanently deleted.
Now that you know how to enable the Google Inactive Account Manager, you know that it helps to preserve their memories and their Digital Legacy. But the tool is not without its limitations.
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