How to Quickly Delete Your Gmail Account Permanently

It is
possible to permanently delete your Gmail Account if you need to. But before
you decide whether you no longer want your Gmail account, think carefully about
what you're doing. Deleting an email account can lead to serious consequences.

In this
tutorial, learn about instances when deleting your email account might be
necessary. Also, we describe the details of what happens if you decide to go ahead and delete a Gmail account. Finally, we provide a screencast and a step-by-step tutorial on
how to delete your Gmail account permanently—if you need to take quick, decisive action.

Warning: 3 Consequences of Deleting Your Gmail Account 

Deleting
an email account is a serious action and it's not without consequences. Here
are some of the main problems you could expect if you delete your Gmail
account:

1. 
   No Access to Your Messages - The most obvious consequence of
   deleting your Gmail is that any saved messages will be lost. Forward important messages to
   your new email before de-activating your Gmail account. Even if you're
   careful, it's easy to forget about that important message you archived months
   ago. If you didn't move it, it's gone when your email account is gone.
   


2. 
   Others Can't Reach You - If your customers and colleagues
   are used to reaching you at the deleted Gmail address, you may lose touch with
   them. Even if you notify everyone you know of the email address change, there's
   still a risk that someone out there is carrying around a business card with the
   old email address.


3. 
   You Can't Reset Passwords for Other Accounts - Nearly all
   your accounts, from your bank account to your social media accounts to your account
   with the pizza delivery service, are associated with your email address. If you
   forget a password, most accounts send a reset link to your email address. If
   your email address is deleted, however, you may have trouble accessing your
   account.

Luckily,
Gmail does not recycle Gmail addresses at this time. Once a user name has been
deleted, it cannot be reused. This means there's currently no chance that someone else
will begin using your deleted Gmail account and pretend to be you.

Why You
Might Need to Delete Your Gmail Account

With all the disadvantages of deleting a Gmail account, you may wonder why you'd ever do it.
There are some good reasons that could cause you to consider deleting an email
account. Here are five:

1. Someone Else Hacked Into Your Account

While you may be tempted to
immediately delete a hacked email account, there are some other steps you
should take first.

First, go ahead and change your password. Next, report the
hack to Gmail. Let your contacts know that your account has been compromised
and that emails sent from it may not be coming from you. Finally, close the
account down and open a new account.

Here are some more Gmail security tips:

• 
  Gmail
  
  
  How to Work With Gmail Passwords Safely & Not Get Hacked
  
  
  Laura Spencer

2. You're Getting Too Many Unwanted Messages

If you're being harassed or getting too much spam, you may want to delete your account. However, if you're being cyber bullied, or otherwise pestered through your
Gmail account, you may be able to set up a filter and block the unwanted messages.
See this tutorial to learn more:

• 
  Gmail
  
  
  How to Filter & Block Unwanted Emails (Spam) in Gmail
  
  
  Laura Spencer

Sometimes, however, the cyber bully or spammer is too persistent. They may
switch email addresses and continue to send the unwanted messages. If this
happens, shutting your Gmail account down and opening a new account that the
miscreant doesn't have the address for may be your best option.

3. Your Email is Full of Junk

If you rarely
use your Gmail account for regular emailing, but instead give the address out to enter
contests or sign up for email newsletters, then your inbox may be full of a mass of unwanted messages.

While the best thing to
do is to delete the unwanted messages and unsubscribe from any mailing lists
you're on, the junk may be too overwhelming. You may want a fresh start with a new email address.

4. You've Outgrown Your User Name

It's also possible to outgrow an email address. If
your user name is your teenage nickname or refers to your high school and
you're now in your thirties, it may be time to graduate to a grown-up Gmail user
name.

5. You Haven't Used Your Account in Years

An unused email account could be a
security risk. If you're not checking your account regularly, you have no way
of knowing whether the account is compromised.

If
you've decided that you definitely want to delete a Gmail account, use the
steps below:

How to
Delete Your Gmail Account (Quickly and Permanently)

Start with the quick video screencast below or dig into the
written tutorial instructions that follow. Learn how to back up your Gmail messages
and how to delete a Gmail account permanently.

1. First, Back Up Any Messages You Need

Before you delete
your Gmail account, first download the data stored there. If you already have a
current backup of your data, you can skip this step.

Step 1. Access the Download Your Data
Screen

Begin by logging into
your account. Next, click the Download your data link.  The
Google Download your data screen
displays:

You'll see
various Google products listed with a box to the right of each of them. Use the
scrollbar to scroll down to the products you want to back up. Since we are
deleting Gmail, I recommend downloading data from Contacts and, of course, Mail.

Step 2. Select Which Data to Download

By default,
download is turned on for all products. (You'll see a green check mark.) To
deactivate those downloads you don't need, click in the white space next to the
green check mark. (You'll see a gray X.) The screen should look like this:

Click the Next button when you have selected the product data you
wish to download. The Customize archive format screen appears:

On the Download your data screen,
you need to make three decisions:

1. 
   File type - Choose between a .zip, .tgz, or .tbz file.


2. 
   Archive size (max) - Sizes range from 1 GB to 50 GB.


3. 
   Delivery method - Choices include Send download link via
   email, Add to Drive, Add to Dropbox, and Add to OneDrive.  

Use the down arrow in the box
beneath each option to bring up a drop-down menu and make your choices:

Step 3.
Create and Manage Your Data Download

When
you've made your choices, click the Create archive button. For this option, I
opt to receive the download in my Gmail inbox. The following screen displays:

When you're ready, click the Manage archives button.
The following confirmation screen displays:

Click
the Done button. Google takes you to a privacy settings screen. If you like,
you can adjust your privacy settings now.

Step 4.
Download Your Data to Your Computer

Since
I chose to receive the download through email, I open my Gmail inbox. A message
displays with a link to my downloaded information:

Note: If you chose one of the
other options for downloading your data, you will find your data where you sent
it.

Click on the message to open it.
The message displays:

Click the Download archive button. You will be prompted to log in to your
Gmail account. Log in. The Download your data:
archive screen displays:

Notice
the prompt asking what you want to do with the data you've downloaded. In this
example, I click the Save as button, which opens a Windows browser window on my
PC.  

Using
the browser window, I find the folder where I want to save the data. I click the
Save button on my browser window and the data is saved to my computer. The file
is now stored on my computer. A prompt opens at the button of the screen asking
whether I want to Open the download, Open folder, or View downloads. If I want
to check on my data, I can select one of these options.

At this
point, your data has been backed up. You are ready to move on to the next step
of deleting your Gmail account.

2. Change Any Accounts That Are Linked to This Gmail

Many
online accounts use your email account as recovery information and to
communicate with you. If you have accounts that are linked to this Gmail
address that you are about to delete, you may lose access to those accounts if you ever need to reset your
password. Also, you may miss out on important communications from those
accounts.

Before
deleting your Gmail address, check to see that none of your accounts are linked
to Gmail. Start with the following important accounts and be sure to consider all
your online accounts

• Bank accounts
  
  


• PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, or other online payment sites
  
  


• Social media accounts
  
  


• Accounts with your favorite vendors
  
  
  
  

Once
you've identified a list of online accounts linked to your Gmail address, change
your profile information for each linked account to link to your new email
address instead of your soon to be deleted Gmail address.

3.
Notify Contacts of Your New Email Address

Another important
consideration is that clients and other contacts may not be able to reach you
if you delete your Gmail address. To solve this problem, you will need to
notify your contacts of your new email address.

Here is a sample Gmail message you can send out:

4.
Delete Your Gmail Account Permanently

Once you've
backed up your Gmail data, changed your profile information for your online
accounts, and notified your contacts you are finally ready to permanently
remove your Gmail address. This process goes quickly:

Step 1. Access Your Account Preferences

To
delete your Gmail account, you need to access the Google Account preferences screen.
Click the Account Preferences link. 

The Account
preferences screen appears:

Use the scrollbar on the right of
the screen to scroll down to the Delete your account or
services heading. The screen now looks
like this:

Click the Delete products option.

Caution: Do NOT click the Delete Google Account and
data option unless you want to lose
access to your entire Google account.

You are prompted to re-enter your
password:

Check the Gmail address on the
screen carefully to make sure it is the one you want to delete. When you are
satisfied that it's correct, type your password and click the Sign in button. The Delete a Google service screen appears:

Note:
That you are given another chance to download your data before you delete your Gmail
account.

Step 2. Select
the Delete Option

Start with the Delete a Google service
screen open:

If you have more than one Google
service, they will be listed on this screen. Scroll down to Gmail. To delete
your Gmail account, click the trash icon to the right. You'll be prompted to
provide an email address so that you can use other Google services such as
Google Drive and Calendar:

Type the email
address you will use from now on to access Google service into the space. Click
the Send Verification Email button on the lower right.

Note: You cannot use an email address that is already associated with another
Google account.

Step 3.
Confirm Your New Email Address

After
you've typed the new email that you will use to check your Google account,
instructions appear on the screen:

Click the Got It button in the lower right corner. Even though
you've already selected the trash icon next to Gmail, you must confirm the
Gmail account deletion.

Go to your new email account,
open the message:

Click the confirmation link. Another Confirm
Gmail deletion screen appears:

Click in
the checkbox to confirm that you really want to delete this Gmail address.
Then, click the Delete Gmail button.

Step 4. Your Gmail Account is Now Deleted

Once
your account is deleted, the following message appears:

Click the Done button and close the Account preferences screen.

After your Gmail address is
deleted, you can no longer send messages to it. Here is an example of how a
message sent to your deleted Gmail account will bounce back to the sender:

Note: After your Gmail account has been deleted, there may be a short
period during which you can recover your account. However, you shouldn't
count on being able to recover your account.

Now that you've deleted your unwanted Gmail address, you may want to set up a new Gmail address. Here is a tutorial to help you:

• 
  Gmail
  
  
  How to Create a New Gmail Account (Quick Start Guide)
  
  
  Laura Spencer

Conclusion

Permanently
deleting your Gmail account is a serious step, but sometimes it's necessary. If your account has been hacked or if it's overrun
by spam, you may be wondering, "how do I delete my Gmail account?"

If you have to close a Gmail
account, it's possible to do it quickly and permanently. Just make sure to first
back up all your data, check for any third party services attached to your Gmail,
and notify your contacts. Then, follow the instructions in this tutorial to
remove your Gmail address from your Google account.