How to Set Up Google Inactive Account Manager

Most people store years of email, photos, and documents in their Google account. If something happens to you, your family may be locked out forever. Google Inactive Account Manager is the simplest safeguard, and it is built directly into your Google account.

Step 1: Open Inactive Account Manager

• Go to myaccount.google.com — Sign in to the Google account you want to protect
• Find "Data & privacy" — Scroll to "Download or delete your data" and click "Make a plan for your account"
• Click Start — This begins the inactivity setup

Step 2: Choose the timeout

Pick 3, 6, 12, or 18 months of inactivity. Three months is the safest for active accounts; choose longer if you travel or take breaks from Google services. Google will warn you by SMS and email before taking any action.

Step 3: Add trusted contacts

Add up to 10 people. For each contact, choose what data they can access (for example, only Drive and Photos for your spouse). Add a phone number so Google can verify them. You can also set an auto-reply for incoming Gmail.

Step 4: Decide whether to delete the account

You can choose to automatically delete your Google account after it is shared with contacts, or keep it active. For digital legacy, sharing with trusted contacts is usually more useful than deletion.

After you set it up

Review the settings once a year. Update contacts if relationships change, and make sure your recovery phone number still works. For everything outside Google (banking, social media, crypto), use an encrypted digital vault with heartbeat release so your family is not left without passwords.