After relying on another service to manage your emails, you have decided to leave Gmail and permanently close your account . First, however, you would like to back up all data associated with the mail service provided by Google, so as not to lose your most important contacts and emails. Also, you would like to know the detailed steps to remove the Gmail account from the devices you associated it with. Is that so? So I don’t see where the problem is: if you want, I’m here to give you a hand and explain how to succeed in your intent.
If you give me a few minutes of your free time, I can in fact explain to you as clearly as possible how to delete a Gmail account . You must know that the operation, beyond what one might think, is not at all complex; just act from the appropriate web page for managing your Google account.
In addition, it will be my responsibility to indicate to you all the steps necessary to back up your Gmail account, so that, even if you delete your account, you will not lose any important contacts and messages. If you agree, I’d say don’t waste any more time chatting and take action immediately. I wish you a good read and I wish you good luck for everything!
Index
- How to delete Gmail account
- Preliminary operations
- How to close Gmail account
- How to delete a Gmail account without a password
- How to delete Gmail accounts from a device
- How to delete a Gmail account from Android
- How to delete a Gmail account from iPhone
- How to delete a Gmail account from your PC
How to delete Gmail account
Before going into the details of this guide and explaining how to delete a Gmail account , I will illustrate the procedure for backing up Gmail data (contacts and emails): to proceed you only need any web browser . Here are all the details.
Preliminary operations
To get a copy of all the data associated with your Gmail account you can take advantage of the Google Takeout service : a useful feature that allows you to export the data associated with your account offline in the various Google services (eg YouTube , Google Chrome , Google Calendar and so on): these obviously also include Gmail data, which can be exported in MBOX or HTML format ).
Below I will show you how to use this feature: I would like to point out that the procedure that I am going to propose is valid both from a computer and from a smartphone and tablet . To start, then connect to the Google Takeout page and, if necessary, log in by entering your Google account address and password in the appropriate fields (if you don’t remember it, take a look at this guide ).
Once this is done, to proceed with the creation of the data backup , click on the word Deselect all located on the right and, subsequently, click on the box located in correspondence with the Mail item : in this way you will include in the backup only the data relating to Gmail and not those relating to other Google services (if you also want to obtain a copy of the data of the latter, just click on the boxes relating to the services themselves).
At this point, if you do not want to download the copy of all the e-mail messages contained in the folders of your mailbox (for example if you intend to exclude the messages stored in the Spam folder from the backup ), click on the item All mail data included that see in the section on Gmail. Then, on the page that opens, deselect the item Include all messages in the Mail .
Proceed, therefore, selecting the items you want to include in the backup by pressing each time on the items related to the folders you are interested in (eg Open , Archived , Drafts etc.) and, once this step is completed, first press on the OK item . Furthermore, if you also want to copy a list of the contacts with whom you have exchanged emails, select the Contacts item (this data will be saved in .VCF format ).
To continue, click on the Next step button at the bottom of the list of items relating to Google services. Next, you have to select one of the various options available for obtaining the backup file; you can do this by clicking on Send the download link via email and then clicking on the option most congenial to you ( Add to Drive , Add to Dropbox , Add to OneDrive and so on).
Next, select the format of the folder that will contain the backup by clicking on the .zip entry ; then select the maximum size of the folder in question by clicking on the words 2 GB (the value indicated is relative to the maximum size into which the backup can possibly be divided; for example, if you have selected the 2 GB option and the backup file has a larger size than the latter, then the file will be divided into various folders with a maximum size of 2 GB).
Finally, click on the Create export button located at the bottom right. Creating the backup could take several hours or even several days, depending on the amount of data to be processed. When the backup is ready, you will receive an email to your Gmail address with the link to download the saved data (please: keep an eye on the Spam / Junk folder to search for the message from Google).
How to close Gmail account
Now that you have a copy of the data related to your Gmail account , you can move on to deleting the account itself. To do this, you have two options at your disposal. The first consists in deleting the Google account to which the e-mail service is associated.
Since, however, this operation is not essential for the purpose of closing the Gmail profile, in the following lines I will only talk to you about the second option, that is to remove only Gmail from your Google account . If you follow my instructions to the letter, therefore, only your Gmail account will be deleted and not your Google account; in any case, if you think it more appropriate to delete the latter directly, I refer you to my tutorial on how to delete a Google account in which I explained in detail how to do this.
Before moving on to the “practice” I would like to point out that the steps of the procedure that I am about to expose remain the same both from a computer and from a smartphone and tablet . First, then go to the management page of your Google account and log in if necessary. Then click on the Data and privacy item at the top and continue by pressing on the wording Delete a Google service that you find at the bottom right.
If requested, re-enter the login data of your account and, on the page that is shown to you, press the trash can icon located under the Gmail entry . At this point, you need to enter an alternative e-mail address to which you have access. Your Google account, in fact, once you have completed this procedure, will be associated with the new address that you will enter at this stage (you cannot use a Gmail address) .This means that to log in in the future, you will be asked to enter this new email address in place of your Gmail address.
Once you have filled in the field with the email address you have chosen, click on Send verification email . Then go to the e-mail box associated with the address you just typed and search for a message from Google (if you do not find it among the recent messages, take a look also at the Spam and Junk E-mail folders ).
As soon as you have found the email in question, open it and, to complete the procedure, click on the link contained in it. That’s it: you just deleted your Gmail account; however, for the cancellation to be effectively completed, you will have to wait two working days.
How to delete a Gmail account without a password
How do you say? Don’t remember your Google account login password and would like me to explain how you can delete your Gmail profile in this case? Unfortunately, I must inform you that the verification of identity by password for the purpose of deleting the Gmail email account is binding and mandatory.
This being the case, you will necessarily have to enter the security code that you will receive on the email address set for recovery and create a new password for your account. The only thing I can suggest you to do, therefore, is to consult my tutorial in which I have explained to you in detail how to recover your Google password .
How to delete Gmail accounts from a device
Wait, are you telling me that you are not interested in knowing how to permanently close your Gmail account but, rather, would you like to know how to remove your Gmail account from a device you have associated it with? No problem, everything is explained below.
But I warn you: removing the Gmail account set up on any device (including Windows PCs and Macs) also automatically removes all data and contacts associated with the account itself from the device in question.
How to delete a Gmail account from Android
Are you wondering how to delete a Gmail account from your phone ? If it is an Android device (including tablets ), access the Settings menu (the gear icon located in the home, drawer or notification menu).
Once this is done, press on the Account item (it could also be called Accounts and synchronization ) and press on the Google item . Then select the Gmail address you want to remove, tap the icon … located at the bottom (on some devices the icon ⁝ at the top right may be present in place of the latter) and tap the Remove account item twice in a row.
To learn more, you can read my guide on how to delete Google Android account . If, on the contrary, you have changed your mind and want to add a Gmail account to your device again, I refer you to my guide on how to associate Android with Google .
How to delete a Gmail account from iPhone
The same operation that I explained to you in the previous chapters can also be performed immediately on the iPhone (and iPad ).
Start, therefore, by going to the iOS Settings (the gear icon located on the home screen or in the app Library), then go to Mail and, from here, select the Account item . Then tap on the entry for Gmail and press the Delete account option twice in a row.
That’s all! If, at a later time, you want to add the Gmail account that you removed from your “iPhone by” to the latter again, take a look at my tutorial on how to configure Gmail on iPhone .
How to delete a Gmail account from your PC
If you want to know how to remove a Gmail mail profile associated with a computer running Windows 11 , click on the Start button , the one with the Windows flag at the bottom of the taskbar; then press on the Settings item and, in the window that has just opened, click on the wording Account that you find in the left menu; then click on the item E-mail and accounts .
Now, click on the box related to the Gmail address you want to remove and, from here, click on the Manage button . At this point, you just have to click on the word Delete account from this device and then confirm by clicking on the Delete item at the bottom right.
To do this on Windows 10 do this: press the Start button , then click on the gear icon located at the bottom left and go to Accounts> E-mail and accounts> [Gmail account address]> Manage > Delete account from this device> Delete .
If, on the other hand, what you are using is a Mac , follow these other steps: press the gear icon on the Dock or click on the bitten apple icon at the top left of the macOS menu bar and, from here, click on System Preferences… . Now, click on Internet Account and then, in the window that opens, select the address you want to remove from those you see listed on the left. Conclude the procedure by clicking first on the [-] button located at the bottom left and then on the OK button .
If you want to retrace your steps and re-synchronize a Gmail account on your computer, just put into practice the instructions you find in my tutorial on how to set up Gmail .
