How to Delete a Gmail Account (Step by Step Guide with Pictures)…

Gmail has been ruling the realm of email services since 2004, giving tough competition to its rival Yahoo! Mail and Outlook.

This article will give you quick overview on everything about Gmail: its origin and How to delete a Gmail account. Well, it’s easy to open an account on any email service, but often it’s not the same as deleting the account. 

If you have opened a Gmail account and want to delete it for some reason, we are here to tell you how you can do it – step by step and that’s too with pictures. You will be able to delete the account and know what happens when you delete your Gmail account. However, there are things to know before deleting your Gmail account. We will inform you about them. 

What You Should Know before Deleting a Gmail Account

First of all, you should know that you can delete your Gmail account without deleting the Google account. Both are separate entities.

If you don’t want to remove the Google account, you must provide an alternate active email account.

If you wish to access other Google services, an active email is needed. It allows the service provider to confirm your identity. One most important thing you should do before contemplating deleting your Gmail is to get a list of the websites, applications, or online services where you have provided the current Gmail address as a login credential. 

You have the idea of all the websites you have provided this email address. It would be best if you changed the contact or login credentials on all these websites. Provide the new, alternate email on them. You will be able to retain the accounts on all these websites even if your Gmail is deleted. 

Once you delete the Gmail account, you won’t recover all the emails and settings. You should take a backup of all messages before deleting the account.

You get multiple backup options with your Google account.

How to Take a Gmail Back up

You get the option of backing up the data from Gmail. Below is the screenshot that gives you an idea of how to perform the backup. Click on the “Download Data” link if you want to proceed to the backup procedure. Remember that you can take the data before deleting the account, not after it. 

There’s a method to download the data via Google email. The link comes through an email, which is how you can backup the archive.

The bonus advantage is that this link can give you a choice to download Google Calendar, Google Photos, and Google Chrome history. 

You can also save that data on Cloud, not just local drive. You can download the entire archive in Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive.

Sometimes if your email is deleted, but you want to restore it, it can be restored.

It may not happen if you are trying to recover the account after a long time. Your emails will be lost. So you know now why it is wise to take a backup before deleting it.

If your email is associated with the workplace, school, or college, you should inquire about the administrator’s permission. 

Step by Step Guide with Pictures – How to Delete a Gmail Account

Whether it’s about how to delete a Gmail account on windows or how to delete a Gmail account on Mac, procedure is same and you are reading the right procedural guide. 

Step 1: Open your browser from your PC or smartphone and log in to your Google account. 

Step 2: Click on the Google dashboard.

Step 3: You’ll be asked to select your Gmail account, select it from the services menu.

Select: “Data & Personalization” from the left menu bar then scroll “things you create and do” and then click on the Gmail symbol acc. to bellow image.

Step 4: Now, you have to click on “Delete Gmail.” check the bellow image and follows the steps

Step 5: You’ll be asked to enter a new alternate email address to keep using other Google services.

Step 6: Confirm the deletion by clicking on the link 

Once you give a new alternate email to Google, it will send you the confirmation link. You have to open the link and proceed ahead. Clicking on it means confirming the deletion of Gmail. 

Step 7: Log in to your Google account

Once the link of deletion is clicked, it will redirect you to the Google page. You have to log in to your Google account with the Google login credentials. The final step in completing the deletion process. 

Now, your account is deleted. If you want to log into the Google account, you have to provide an alternate email address for accessing the Google services.

As we said, you can recover Gmail if you have deleted it recently, but it won’t show your old emails. 

How to Delete Gmail Account on iPhone & iPad

1. Download the Gmail backup before you decide to delete the account. 
2. iPhone or iPad both have the same procedure, so you can use this guide for deleting the account on either. 
3. Open Gmail app from iPad or iPhone. 
4. Once you open the app, you can see your profile or initial in the top right corner. Tap on it. Now open “Manage your Google Account.” If you don’t have the Gmail app, visit: myaccount.google.com
5. At the top, you see Data & Personalization.
6. You will be prompted to select “Download, Delete, or Make a Plan for Your Data” Select the Delete option from the menu.
7. You’ll see a symbol of a trash can or delete, which means permission to delete your Gmail. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the deletion. If you use a Gmail Offline app, you should clear the browser’s history and cookies.

Delete a Gmail Account on Android

1. Don’t forget to take a backup from Android phone
2. Android smartphones and tablets both have the same procedure.
3. Go to Settings > Google > Manage Your Google Account
4. Tap on Data & Personalization
5. You’ll see a menu Download, Delete, or Make a Plan for Your Data
6. Tap on Delete a service or your account from the menu
7. Tap on the trash can sign to prompt the process
8. Follow the remaining steps to finish the task

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are not satisfied with the instructions above, we have included this FAQ session to address some additional queries you have regarding the Gmail and Google accounts. 

How Do You Delete Your Gmail Account Without Losing Your YouTube Account?

If you are using a Google account, you have access to all the products and services of Google. Gmail is one such email service. If you follow the instructions given above, you will be deleting your only Gmail account, not your Google account.

So you can still retain a YouTube account. You can read this official guide on the matter. Just make sure not to delete the main Google account.

How Many Days Does it Take Before a Gmail Account is Deleted Permanently?

When you proceed to confirm the permanent deletion of a Gmail account, it takes at least a minimum of 5 days to up to 21 days. Sometimes the account gets deleted quicker. However, in most cases, if you change your mind and try to recover the address, you get it back.  

How Many Reports Are Needed to Delete a Gmail Account?

Although there is no exact answer to how many reports it takes to delete a Gmail account, a list of actions can lead to getting banned on Gmail. 

1. You are impersonating the other person by using email addresses or faking the email’s identity or source. If you are pretending to be someone else and sending emails, you can land yourself in serious trouble. Getting your account shut is just the first phase. It can end up worse – thousands in fines and even jail time.
2. Sending emails to those who have requested not to receive any email further can attract scrutiny. Although unsubscribing from an email list is easy, that doesn’t discourage many. They need a severe reaction.
3. Sell/Purchase/Exchange of Email Addresses: Privacy laws, awareness, and activism are being taken seriously worldwide. If you indulge in an activity that sells or purchases any person’s email addresses without their consent, it can attract serious trouble.
4. Sending too many emails to unknown addresses is illegal. Don’t blast strangers with emails. It’s illegal.
5. Email scams: Sending, uploading, exchanging materials that are objectionable, fraudulent, incite violence, obscene, and defamatory can attract severe punishment from the authorities. It’s illegal to peddle email scams. There are lists available of what you should and shouldn’t send through emails, so check that out before sending anything.
6. You are sending fraudulent pyramid scheme emails for scamming the recipients of the email. So make sure that your email account is not being used for peddling pyramid schemes.
7. Targeting minors: Well, this one is the most serious offense of all. If you are using your email address to send, upload, exchange the content with minors that shouldn’t be, you are attracting severe punishments. The content like child pornography, threats, extreme-graphic violence, age-restricted stuff like alcohol, drug, porn, dating, and more.
8. Intellectual property or copyrighted content: sharing the content of someone’s intellectual property or copyright is a legal offense. You can be subject to the owner’s litigation if you share or exchange copyrighted material without proper licensing or permission.  

How to Improve your Email validation?

Final Words

If you know how to delete a Gmail account, you must be looking for another email service provider. There are many good and new ones in the market, like Superhuman, that is gaining popularity. If you have only deleted Gmail, you can still access the other Google products and services without any issue. 

If you like this guide, make sure to visit our other instructional guides to solve other queries. Follow our site for regular tech updates. Drop the comments below if you have any exciting questions and doubts. Until then, stay safe.