How to Delete Your Gmail Address Permanently

Gmail’s collaboration tools and integration with other Google products make it the easy choice for most people when it comes to picking a go-to email service. Signing up for a Gmail account is quick and easy, and many people have more than one Gmail address for one reason or another. In any case, you might find yourself with one too many Gmail accounts.

To simplify your life, you might decide to delete a Gmail account and this article explains how you can do it.

How to Delete Your Gmail Address

Deleting a Gmail account is about as easy as signing up for one, but you’ll need to follow the steps carefully if you don’t want to delete your entire Google account.

First, log out of any other Google or Gmail accounts that you might be logged in within your web browser. This is an important safety precaution to avoid deleting the wrong account.

Second, you need to log in to the Google account that has the specific Gmail account you want to delete. To do that open a web browser and navigate to google.com and then click on login on the upper right side of the browser

1. Go to myaccount.google.com and login if you haven’t already. You’ll see a “Welcome, Your Name” at the top of the Google account management page.
2. On the Google Account Management page, click on Data & personalization in the left-hand navigation menu.
   
3. If you want, you can download your data before you delete your Gmail account so that you don’t lose anything important. Or, if you don’t need to save your data, you can just click on Delete a service or your account. 
   
4. Next, Google will present you with the options again. If you’re ready to delete your Gmail account, click on Delete a Google service. 
   
5. Once you click on Delete a Google service, you’ll be prompted for your password, and depending on your security settings, you may have to enter a verification code.
6. The next screen will show you a list of the Google services you have associated with this Google account, such as Gmail and YouTube, with a trash can icon to the right of each service.
   
7. Next, click on the trash can icon to delete your Gmail account. Google may ask you to verify your identity with another Google verification text.
8. Next, you’ll be asked to provide a different non-Google email address before you can proceed. This non-Gmail address is for signing in to other Google services like Google Play, Docs, or Calendar. Enter the non-Gmail email address then click Send Verification Email.
9. Check your alternate email and open the verification message from Gmail. Click on the link to continue with removing your Gmail address. This step is important. Your Gmail address won’t be deleted until you click on the link.
   • Note: Before you delete Gmail, you can download your emails by click on the Download Data link on the top of the Google services list. You can choose to download all emails or select specific labels. The downloaded file will be in MBOX format and can be opened by connecting an active Gmail account with an email client like Thunderbird. 
10. Finally, click Remove Gmail as the last step. Note that deleting your Gmail address will not free up your Google/Gmail username.

 If you want to keep the account but delete your contact list, read How To Delete All Google Gmail Contacts.

Remove Gmail from Your Phone

Another step you may need to take is to delete your Gmail account from your phone (this is especially important if you don’t want to see pop-ups on your phone asking you to sign in). This can be done on both Apple and Android devices using the Accounts settings.

1. This can be done easily by typing ‘Accounts‘ into the Settings search bar.
2. Locate the account and tap on it, both Android and Apple give you the option to remove an account. Once you tap on it, you’ll then need to confirm. The account will disappear from your phone’s account list.

Next Steps

You can not sign up for Gmail with the same username in the future. Since a Gmail address is also connected to a Google account, deleting it will not delete any data from other Google services like YouTube, Google Search history, and Google Drive. If you did not download your emails from the account, all of your emails will be inaccessible.

The next thing to do after deleting a Gmail address is to update any document that might have that email address. This might include business cards, resumes, your website’s contact info, and other places where you gave that email address as a way to contact you should now be updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

At TechJunkie we get a lot of questions about using Gmail and other Google services.

Here are our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about using, creating, and deleting Gmail accounts.

Can I delete my Gmail and still keep my Google Docs?

Yes, the instructions above are for your Gmail account only. You can still access your Google docs and saved Google Suite data.

Is Gmail secure?

As with most technology, Gmail’s security depends on the user. Setting up two-factor authentication, updating your password regularly, and keeping the contact information up to date are steps you need to take to ensure your Gmail is secure.

What happens when someone sends me an email after I delete my account?

The sender will receive a reply email stating that the message is undeliverable. It does not explain why the email wasn’t sent.

What if I use my Gmail for logging into other sites?

Before you delete your email, make sure that you update your email address on all of your accounts it’s tied to. You will have to go to each site and update the contact information.

What happens if someone sends me an email?

If someone sends you an email after you’ve followed the steps described above, it will alert them with the ‘Message Undelivered’ notification. Since you will receive no notifications regarding new messages once the account is deleted, it’s important to update your contact information for every account or contact affiliated with that address.

Final Thoughts

Inactive email accounts are prime targets for hackers and it invites the risk of getting your personal information stolen. As such, if you’re not using a particular Gmail address, then it’s in your best interest to properly delete it rather than have it open to hacking. Fortunately, by following the steps outlined above, you can quickly and easily delete any old and forgotten Gmail addresses.