Save Your Trusted People Time and Stress: Google’s Inactive Account Manager

A Few Minutes Now Could Save Hours, Days, or Even Weeks Later

Since your device and emails are often the entry point for many of your digital assets, they’re a great place to start when planning your digital estate. Google’s Inactive Account Manager is a simple tool that lets you decide what happens to your accounts (like Gmail, Photos, and Drive) if you’re no longer active.

With just a few steps, you can share data with trusted people or have everything deleted—saving those handling your digital assets time and stress when it matters most.

Why Set It Up?

• Helps trusted contacts easily access the information they’ll need.

• A simple way to prevent your data from being left unattended or misused.

  
  

What Will Your Trusted Contacts See?

When you add someone as a trusted contact in Google’s Inactive Account Manager, they’ll receive an email when your account is flagged as inactive. You decide:

• What they can access: This might include Gmail, Google Photos, or Drive.

• How much they see: You can limit their access to only what’s necessary or share everything.

• Personal Notes: Add a message to explain what’s being shared and why.

This email will give them clear instructions for accessing the data you’ve chosen to share. However, it’s important to remember that your trusted contacts won’t be notified until after your account becomes inactive.

Plan for Timing

When setting up the Inactive Account Manager, you choose how long Google should wait before considering your account inactive. The options range from 3 to 18 months. If you set it to 60 days (2 months), for example, your trusted contact won’t be notified until that period has passed.

If you want your executor or trusted person to have access sooner, it’s a good idea to include your login information in your digital estate plan. Without this information, they may need to wait for the inactivity period to pass before they can manage your accounts.

How to Set It Up

1. Go to Google’s Inactive Account Manager.

2. Sign in to your Google account.

3. Add trusted contacts and decide what they can access.

4. Choose how long Google should wait before considering your account inactive.

5. Confirm your settings!

It’s a simple step that can make a big difference. Be sure to document this in your digital estate plan so your trusted people know what you’ve decided.

Exciting Updates!

We’re so close to releasing templates to help you create your digital estate plan. These will be available for purchase, but they’ll also be free with our upcoming book, which is in final edits now!

Stay tuned—templates will be out soon, and you don’t want to miss them. Planning ahead doesn’t have to be complicated, and it can save the people you care about so much time and energy.