Google's Inactive Account Manager is a powerful but underused tool that lets you decide what happens to your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, YouTube, and other Google data when your account becomes inactive — whether due to death or other circumstances where you can no longer access it.
What Is the Inactive Account Manager?
Inactive Account Manager is a feature in Google Account settings that allows you to:
- Define what "inactive" means for your account (3, 6, 12, or 18 months without sign-in)
- Designate trusted contacts who will be notified and given access to your data if your account becomes inactive
- Choose which data to share with each contact (or none)
- Decide whether your entire Google account should eventually be deleted
Why This Matters
Google's services contain some of the most personal and irreplaceable digital content most people have:
- Google Photos: Thousands of family photos and videos
- Gmail: Years of correspondence, financial records, and account confirmation emails
- Google Drive: Documents, spreadsheets, presentations
- YouTube: Any videos you've uploaded
- Google Contacts: Your full contact database
Without Inactive Account Manager configured, your family may have no way to access this data — and Google may eventually delete it.
How to Set Up Inactive Account Manager
- Go to myaccount.google.com
- Select Data & Privacy
- Scroll down to More options and select Make a plan for your digital legacy
- Click Start to configure Inactive Account Manager
- Set your inactivity period (how long Google should wait before considering you inactive)
- Set up notifications: provide your phone number so Google can alert you before triggering the plan
- Add trusted contacts and specify which data they can access
- Optionally configure account deletion after a period of time
What Data Can You Share?
You can choose to share access to: Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, YouTube data, Blogger content, Google Contacts, and more. You can customize access per contact — for example, sharing only your Google Photos with your spouse, but giving your executor access to Gmail as well.
Account Deletion
You can also configure Google to delete your account entirely after a period of inactivity. This is worth careful thought — deletion is permanent and includes all your data across Google services.
Limitations
Inactive Account Manager doesn't give contacts your Google password or full account access — it gives them access to a download of the data you specify. Contacts receive a link to download data, but they can't log in as you or send email from your account.
Pair with Other Planning
Google's Inactive Account Manager works best as part of a broader digital legacy plan. See our guide on Apple Legacy Contact for the equivalent Apple setting, and our complete guide to digital legacy for the full picture.