How to delete a Gmail account – and take back your privacy!

Google owned Gmail has served billions of people around the world for many years – and for some it is a good email provider but for others, especially those who prefer privacy – Gmail just doesn’t cut it anymore. Asking “how do I delete my Gmail account” can stem from a variety of points. Maybe your Gmail is full of spam, you are trying to delete a hacked Gmail account, you’re tired of Gmail’s annoying ads or you just want to make a fresh start with a new private email service. Why not choose one that has zero tracking, zero ads, is free and privacy focused, like Tuta Mail. Whatever your reason is for deleting your Gmail, we are here to help.

We have even created a quick tutorial video on our YouTube channel where you can follow along with these steps!

Read this step-by-step guide to learn what steps to take before deleting your Gmail account. How to close your old Gmail from start to finish on a Mac computer or PC. And how to do so on an Android or iOS device.

Table of Contents:

• Things to consider before permanently deleting a Gmail account

• How to Export a copy of your Gmail data

• How to delete your Gmail account from a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer

• How to delete a Gmail account from Android

• How to delete a Gmail account on iPhone

• Can I recover a deleted Gmail account?

• A secure Gmail alternative – Tuta Mail

Things to consider before you delete your Gmail account

Before you permanently delete your Gmail account, there are a few things to consider – especially if Gmail has been your primary email account for many years.

Remember, when you delete your Gmail account, you will erase all your emails, and you won’t be able to receive or send any emails from that account. Deleting your Gmail account is different to deleting your Google Account. After deleting your Gmail account, you will still have all activity and purchases you made with that account on Google Play. If you use any Google services like YouTube, Google Docs or Google Drive, you will still have access to these.

1. Make a backup of your important emails Before you permanently delete your Gmail account, we’d recommend making a back up of any important emails or attachments you may need in the future. Backing up your emails can be done easily by using a service like Gmail export plugin or Google Takeout to download them to your computer. Keep reading to find the steps on how to export a copy of your Gmail data.

2. Update your email address on your linked accounts It’s most likely you’ve used your Gmail address to log in to other services and online platforms like Instagram, Amazon or Netflix. If you have used the Gmail address your are about to close to register to any online accounts or linked to active subscriptions, you will need to log into these accounts and update your information with a new email address – preferably the email address you will be using after deleting your Gmail. Remember – once you’ve deleted your Gmail, you might not have access to the services and accounts linked to this email address – so save yourself the headache, and remove these accounts from your Gmail beforehand.

3. Transfer your contact list Export all your Gmail contacts and import them to another email service. Alternatively, you can save them locally on your computer.

4. Notify your contacts Let your email contacts know that you will be deleting your Gmail account and be sure to give them your new email address to use for future communications. Need a new email account? Click here to sign up for a secure and private Tuta Mail account in seconds!

5. Redirect your emails When you’ve erased your Gmail account, all your emails and mail settings will be erased, too. So when the account is deleted, you wont be able to receive, or send messages from your deleted address. To make sure you don’t miss out on any important emails that still get sent to your old Gmail account, set up a Gmail rule to forward any emails to your new, chosen account.

Now that you’ve taken the necessary steps before permanently deleting your Gmail account, keep reading to know how to safely delete your account from a computer, Android or iOS device.

Before deleting your account: Export a copy of your Gmail data

1. Go to your Google Account
2. On the menu on the left, click Data & Privacy
3. Under Data from apps and services that you use, click on Apps and services
4. Click *Download your data.

5. Select which data you want to export, and click Next step
6. Select the file format you’d like to download the data in and click Export once
7. Click Create export

The time it takes to export a copy of your content will vary depending on how much data there is. You will receive an email to your Gmail account, notifying you when the copy of your data is ready for download.

Once you have successfully exported and downloaded a copy of all your Gmail data you can safely delete your account by following these steps below.

How to delete your Gmail account from a computer:

1. Go to your Google Account

2. On the menu on the left, click Data & Privacy

3. Under Data from apps and services that you use, click on Delete a Google service*

4. Sign in with the Gmail account credentials you wish to delete

5. Click on the bin icon next to Gmail

6. Enter an alternative existing email address so that you can still use your other active Google services and click Send verification email

7. Go to your chosen email account and open Google’s verification email

8. Click on the link in the verification email

9. Tick the box that says Yes, I want to delete my Gmail account

10. Click Delete Gmail

How to delete a gmail account from an Android phone or tablet:

1. On your Android device open the Gmail application

2. Make sure you are logged into the Gmail account that you want to delete

3. Click Manage your Google Account

4. Go to Data & Privacy and scroll down to Data from apps and services you use

5. Select Delete a Google service

6. Sign in with the Google account details you wish to delete

7. Click on the bin icon next to Gmail

8. Enter an alternative existing email address and click Send verification email. Remember - this can’t be a Gmail address

9. Go to your chosen email account and open Google’s verification email

10. Click on the link in the verification email

11. Tick the box that says Yes, I want to delete my Gmail account

12. Click Delete Gmail

You will now have permanently deleted the Gmail account from your Android device.

How to delete a Gmail account on iPhone:

1. On your iOS device open the Gmail application

2. Make sure you are logged into the Gmail account that you want to delete

3. Click Manage your Google Account

4. Go to Data & Privacy and scroll down to Data from apps and services you use

5. Select Delete a Google service

6. Sign in with the Google account details you wish to delete

7. Click on the bin icon next to Gmail

8. Enter an alternative existing email address click Send verification email. Remember - this can’t be a Gmail address

9. Click on the link in the verification email

10. Tick the box that says Yes, I want to delete my Gmail account

11. Click Delete Gmail

Can I recover a deleted Gmail account?

You might be wondering, can I recover my deleted Gmail account and data? Yes, and no! The success of recovering your Gmail account after permanently deleting it is all dependent on how long ago you deleted the account. In some cases people have been able to recover the account, while others haven’t – it seems whether you can recover your account is time dependent on how long ago you deleted it.

Only recently deleted accounts stand a chance of being recovered. Unfortunately Google doesn’t mention what this time frame is, so if you’ve deleted your Gmail account the best thing to do is to go the Google Account Recovery and attempt to recover it, but there’s no guarantee it will work.

The perfect Gmail alternative

Now that you’ve deleted your Gmail account you might be looking for a better alternative. Maybe you are considering a popular email provider like Outlook or Yahoo. If so, we’ve prepared a comparison of Gmail and Outlook – but be warned: like Gmail, these Big Tech providers infringe on your privacy 24/7 by scanning the contents of your private messages, and spamming you with targeted ads.

When it comes to ‘free’ email services like Gmail and Outlook, you don’t pay with your hard earned money, but rather with your data and privacy, from which they target you with ads, influence you (beyond ways you could imagine) and then take your hard earned money by making you buy things you don’t need!

Now, before you decide to quit using email altogether, we should tell you that we have an email solution, that is free, respects your privacy and is adheres to top security standards - Tuta Mail.

Why Switch to Tuta Mail?

Tuta Mail is a privacy and security focused email service that’s fully open source! Based in Germany, Tuta is fully GDPR compliant and goes beyond the European benchmark for privacy and security. With Tuta Mail the entire mailbox is end-to-end encrypted - including your contact list, subject line and even the Tuta Calendar.

Tuta Mail is available on all platforms, has free desktop client for Linux, macOS and Windows as well as free mobile apps for Android and iOS. It’s the best solution if you want privacy and convenience integrated into one user-friendly interface. We guarantee you it’s an email change for the better. Make the change and sign up now!

0 ADS, 0 TRACKING, 100% PRIVACY.