Google Inactive Account Manager Guide (2026)

1. What Inactive Account Manager actually does

Inactive Account Manager is Google's tool for controlling what happens to your account if you stop using it — typically because you've died, but it also covers extended illness or an account you simply abandon. You pick an inactivity period (3, 6, 12, or 18 months), and once that timer elapses Google will notify the trusted contacts you named, optionally share specific data with them, and optionally delete the account.

Before anything triggers, Google sends warnings to your phone and a recovery email, so an accidental trigger is unlikely. This is the official "digital legacy" path for Google — the alternative for surviving family is a paperwork-heavy request to Google with a death certificate and court documents, which can take months and often fails.

2. Set it up in five steps

1. 1. Go to myaccount.google.com/inactive while signed in. Click Start.
2. 2. Set the inactivity period — how long Google waits before considering your account inactive. 3 months is aggressive; 12 months is the reasonable default for most people.
3. 3. Add a recovery phone number and recovery email. Google warns you at both before the timer fires.
4. 4. Add up to ten trusted contacts. For each, decide whether they receive data and, if so, which Google services' data.
5. 5. Optionally enable auto-delete the account three months after your contacts are notified.

3. Choosing your trusted contacts

For each contact you can write a short personal message (up to a few hundred characters) that Google sends alongside the notification email. Use this — the default message is generic and easy to mistake for spam. Tell them what to expect and why they're getting the email.

• Use an address they actually check. A defunct work email is the same as no contact.
• Tell them in advance. A surprise email from Google after you've died is a bad way to learn.
• You can require their phone number for verification — turn this on for anyone receiving data.

4. Picking what data to share

For each trusted contact you can share data from any combination of Google services. Anything you share is delivered as a downloadable archive (Google Takeout format) they have six months to grab. Commonly included:

• Gmail messages and attachments
• Google Drive files and Docs
• Google Photos library
• YouTube videos and playlists
• Contacts, Calendar, Keep notes

You can give different contacts access to different subsets — for example, send your spouse the whole account and send only Photos to your siblings.

5. The auto-delete option

At the end of setup you can enable auto-deletion of the account three months after your trusted contacts are notified. This wipes Gmail, Drive, Photos, YouTube uploads, the account itself, and cancels any active Google subscriptions.

Think twice before turning this on. Once the account is gone, so is every login that uses "Sign in with Google", every archived email a family member might later need (insurance policies, medical records, tax history), and every shared Google Doc your collaborators still rely on. Sharing data with a trusted contact and leaving the account dormant is usually the safer default.

6. What it covers (and what it doesn't)

Inactive Account Manager handles the Google side well. What it explicitly does not touch:

• —Passwords saved in Chrome / Google Password Manager. Excluded from the shared archive. Your contact receives your email but can't log into anything else.
• —Google Pay balances, Play credit, and paid apps or media. Non-transferable.
• —Anything outside Google. Apple ID, Microsoft 365, bank logins, crypto wallets, work SSO, social media — none of it.
• —Instructions or context. Your contact gets a data dump, not a plan. Where's the will? Which of these accounts matter? Who's the executor? Google can't help here.

7. Google Inactive Account Manager vs HeirLock

Google Inactive Account Manager is essential if you use Gmail, Drive, or Photos. Set it up today — it's free, and it's the only way your family avoids Google's months-long deceased-user request process.

Where it stops is credentials and cross-platform coverage. The Chrome-saved passwords that unlock your bank, brokerage, and email resets aren't in the archive. Neither is anything hosted by Apple, Microsoft, Coinbase, your employer, or your password manager. And Google can't give your family the story: which accounts matter, what the seed phrase unlocks, where the will lives.

HeirLock complements Google's tool rather than replacing it. It's a cross-platform encrypted vault for the things Google can't touch: credentials, wallet seed phrases, documents, and personal messages — released to the beneficiaries you name if you stop checking in.

8. FAQ