How to Delete a Gmail Account

Everyone is well aware that Google services harvest personal data from all users. Like any of their services, countless users want to ditch them and get their privacy back.

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While some users think Gmail email is the best, many think it is too intrusive and gathers too much. It may be the case you have one Gmail account too many and wish to delete that one.

It doesn’t matter the reason; here, you will see how to delete a Gmail account in a few steps following this guide.

How to Delete Your Gmail Account

If you decide to follow these online privacy tips, you should know that deleting your Gmail account won’t prevent you from using any other Google service.

You may be worried that you can lose everything by doing so. Luckily, you can remove Gmail as a service without closing the account you have for everything else. This can be crucial if you have a YouTube channel etc.

Luckily, all your data will remain safe.

Similarly, you can delete another service if you so wish and carry on using others. However, if you delete an account linked to the Google Play Store, then you may lose access to this. This service does need a valid Gmail address to work correctly.

Deleting Your Gmail Account

To remove your Gmail account and the associated email address, all you need to do is follow these straightforward steps.

Head to your ‘Google Account Settings’
Select Data & Personalization
On this page, scroll down until you see Download, make a plan for your data or delete (here you can download your data before deleting your account, or it will be lost)
If you have or don’t want to download, delete a service or your account needs selecting.
Select ‘Delete a service or your account (You can choose to delete google account data here, so be careful)
Select ‘delete a service’ (Under this is another option to download your data)
The page asks you to sign in to your account.
You are taken to another page that shows all the services you can delete
Select the trashcan icon next to Gmail
Type in an alternate email address that is different from the one associated with your Gmail account. You do this in the ‘How will you sign into Google’ dialogue box. (A secondary email address may already be present, which you entered when you created your email account).
Click on Send verification email. You will receive an email from [email protected], and the subject will be either Gmail delete confirmation or a Security alert for your linked Google account.
In the email, you follow the deletion link.
It may ask you to log into the account you are deleting
You will see ‘Confirm Gmail Deletion.’ Click on Yes; I want to delete …[email protected] permanently from your Google account. This will confirm you want to delete your Gmail account.
The last step is to click delete Gmail and click ‘Done.’

What Happens to Deleted Gmail Account Emails?

You may have concerns about what happens to all the emails you had before. Deleted Google account emails are deleted permanently and can’t be accessed by anyone. You can use either Google Takeout or an alternative email program if you need to use any of these emails.

Where Will Emails Go if Sent to My Old Address?

If you permanently delete your Gmail, anyone who sends a message will receive a delivery failure message.

Deleting Gmail on Android

If you are looking, how do you delete a Gmail account on Android? We have you covered. Before you head off and delete your email account, you can follow these steps to ensure no communications are coming to your Android device.

As a double measure, you can turn off any Gmail notifications. This prevents the Gmail app from notifying you when you receive an email. This shouldn’t need to be done if you close your account, although it is better to be safe.

Open your Gmail app
Tap on the hamburger icon (three lines)
Scroll down to the bottom and tap on settings
Select the Gmail account you want to manage if you have multiple
Would you please tap on the notification toggle to disable it (turn off)
Now, you won’t receive any notifications

These steps are not much different from those on a desktop.

Open Settings on your Android device.
Scroll down until you locate the Google section in the settings
Inside the Google settings, locate “Google Account” and select it
Select the “Data & Personalization” tab in the top menu
Scroll down to find “Download, delete, or make a plan for your data.”
Select “Delete a service or your account.”
Now select “Delete a Google Service.”
Google may ask you to re-sign into your account.
Locate “Gmail” and click the Trash Can icon. If there are any other instructions, follow these to delete your Gmail account.

Android is different from other devices because it is an Android device. It isn’t possible to remove the Gmail app because they build it into the OS.

All you can do is follow the instructions above to delete your account, and then you can turn off the synch function.

Here is how you can turn off the synch function on an Android device.

Open settings and go to Users and Setting.
Tap to select the Gmail account that you wish to manage
Tap on Account Sync to disable

How to Delete Gmail on iOS

When you look at deleting an email account on an Apple device, things are a bit different. Unlike Android devices, iOS doesn’t have and Google settings at the operating system level.

Because of this, you will need a Gmail app installed onto your iOS device to proceed with the deletion of your Gmail account. (Read Fire Stick Slow)

On the other hand, alternatively, you can carry on using the instructions above for the computer and delete a Google Gmail account in your browser.

Open the Gmail app on your device and then tap to open the Menu
Once in the menu, tap on Settings, navigate to ‘Your Account,’ and ‘manage your Google Account.’
In the navigation panel, locate “Data & personalization” and then tap to select it.
Once on the new page, find the section that is labeled “Download, delete, or make a plan for your data,” and then select “Delete a service or your account.”
On the screen, which follows, tap on “Delete a service.”
As with any other process, Google may ask you to re-confirm your current password for your email here.
On the following screen, find Gmail and select “Delete,” then follow the instructions provided by Google.

What Can Replace Gmail

You can find many Google alternatives for all their services and none more than their email offering. (Learn How To Unsubscribe From Default Subreddits)

All over, you can see many email options available that can keep all your data secure without harvesting it for their own purpose.

Many of them are as good as or better than the Gmail service. Here are a few things alternatives to Gmail offer.

Privacy and jurisdiction – Many email providers are located in different areas of Europe. There are now strict GDPR rules that need following, so they cannot use personal data as they wish.

Encryption – Alternatives can use higher levels of encryption than Gmail does. All messages are secure from end to end.

Custom Domains – You can set up email addresses that relate to your business

Open source – Many email providers are open source compared to Gmail, which isn’t. Because of this, anyone can see what is going on behind the scenes and make sure these companies stick to what they say.

Anonymous payments and registration – If you have to pay, you can set up these email accounts using cryptocurrencies, and you don’t have to hand over your real details. All the way through, you can remain anonymous.

A couple of options are Tutanota, Posteo, Mailfence, and one of the most secure and private email services. ProtonMail comes from a company that houses servers under mountains. (Read our Google Alternatives guide here)

It also comes from the same company, which has a very secure VPN service. Speaking of VPNs, they are another way to keep your identity and location away from prying eyes.

So, once you ditch Gmail, look into using a VPN for even more anonymity while online.

Want more privacy? Learn how to delete your Google history.