Google is the Internet’s most powerful company. It has numerous products and offerings to the broad online clientele, from mapping and tracking apps to tools for analytics. It controls the destiny of the world’s biggest video platform (Youtube) and is the most widely used search engine.
However, its electronic mail service, Gmail, is by far one of its most famous services. Once an unknown entity, it came over to cut Hotmail’s dominance in the industry and is now the leading email platform on the planet.
Gmail: One of Google’s Leading Products
Gmail fills a very specific need, yet it thrives in the market because of its relationship with Google and all of its catalogue, its ease of use, and its free condition. It is a quality offering, too, as it lets users store, create, send, and receive digital notes with the added feature of creating files and folders and categorizing or classifying emails according to their respective nature.
The era of physical mail is now comfortably in the rearview mirror. Why send a letter to someone when there is the chance of not losing a penny on gas, paper, pen, and postal expenses? The world is now an interconnected place in which Internet rules and most people have at least one email account.
However, what happens if you open one too many? Since people can open email accounts with different names and usernames, there is no limit: you can own multiple ones and there will be no issues. So, you may ask yourself. Could I delete an email account if I don’t want to use it anymore?
The answer is yes. And, thankfully, Google and Gmail usually don’t put up a fight if you want to say goodbye: they give users all the right tools to get in or get out as soon as they want, with no hassle. You just need to follow a series of steps.
Possible Reasons to Delete Your Gmail account
Of course, if you want to delete your Gmail account, there might be a reason behind it. Google won’t ask you, but you may feel that, if you have four email accounts, you may live with one fewer, right?
Often, people open a Gmail account for work reasons, only to stop using them once they aren’t working at that enterprise anymore. You can also find a different email provider that suits your needs in a better way.
The good news is that, whatever the reason behind it is, you can delete your Gmail account, including all the messages you sent and received, without losing the right to use your other Google products, namely YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play Store, Ad Words, and more.
What Do I Need to Delete my Gmail account?
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that Google will ask your password multiple times, so make sure you remember it! And although there may be a few clicks here and there, the process is very simple and quick.
Here are the steps to cancel your account and delete your Gmail address:
- Log in to your Google account.
- Access the Google Account Settings page.
- Click on Delete Your Account or Services, located just under Account preferences.
- Select Delete Products.
Note: Remember that you can also opt to Delete Google Account and Data, if you want to say goodbye to elements such as your search history, AdWords, Google Docs, and other associated services.
- Click on the Gmail account you need to erase.
- Write the right password for the chosen account after selecting Enter your password.
- Select Next.
- Click on the trash can symbol. If you want a full copy of your messages, follow the Download Data link and you will have it via Google Takeout.
- Write a different email address from the one you are deleting.
- In the How you will sign in to Google box, enter an email address. That alternative address will now become your Google account username.
- Click on Send Verification Email.
- Access your newly received email (sent from [email protected]) with the subject Gmail Deletion Confirmation.
- Click on the link in the message to complete deletion.
- If the system asks you, sign in your about-to-be-ex Gmail account.
- Choose Yes, I want to delete ****@gmail.com permanently from my Google Account. It is under Confirm Gmail Deletion.
- Select Delete Gmail.
- Click on Done.