So, Google just released a new way to mess with everyone.
Google accounts with inactivity (for 2 years) will be deleted.
This is a positive and a negative honestly.
Positive: Finally, accounts that were just made solely to either have free trials or just to make many accounts to follow your favorite on. Are finally going to disappear. In other words, allowing other people to use that email name.
Negative: I have an old email that is holding information. Because of storage issues. I'm not paying extra for storage. Fuck off with that.
So how can you prevent your Google account from deletions?
Enter to your Gmail once a year (the simplest way to keep it active), use google drive, watch YouTube videos (link with that Gmail), share a (google) photo, use Google searches with that Gmail, read or send emails with that Gmail and finally, use the Google third-party sign-in feature with that Google account.
There are exceptions to this new policy.
"Examples include: a Google Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments; an account that has a gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play store..."
For every single Google account, if your account is eligible for deletion, will be sent a warning email by Google informing you that the account will be deleted on whatever date has been chosen (for now every "inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion from December 1, 2023").
If you have a recovery email, two emails will be sent. One email will be sent to the account that is eligible to be deleted and another to the recovery email.
This is their way of making it easier for you to keep that account active.
"Our priority is to make it as easy as possible for you to keep your account active, if you want to, and we’ll ensure you have adequate notice before any account is impacted by this change. So before an account is deleted, Google will send email notifications to the Google Account and its recovery email (if one has been provided)."
This policy was updated yesterday (July 28, 2023, around 8:01am EST).
My guess is that Dec 1st, 2023 is when the clock starts. But idk and I highly recommend everyone go to your inactive accounts just so they can be deemed safe from the purge. Also, recommend making a recovery email if that Gmail is important to you and needs to be kept alive.
An idea of mine but will not recommend it unless someone can vouch it's a good idea. Make a scheduled email and have that sent to your account like a 'hey future me' kind of thing. As long as the account is active and is sending emails it should be fine right. However, I think Google is more seeing if you are actually checking your Gmail or using your Google account. But hey, it's a good idea, right?