How to Delete Gmail - Just the Mail or Your Whole Google Account

Step by step

1. 1

   Download a copy of your messages first

   Before you delete anything, go to takeout.google.com and export your Gmail data. Select Mail (and Contacts if you need them), choose a format and download the archive. With a large mailbox Google can take several hours to prepare the package and sends you a link when it's ready. Once deleted, those messages are gone for good.

2. 2

   Sign in to your Google account

   Open myaccount.google.com in a browser on your computer or phone and sign in to the account in question. From the Gmail app you can get there via your profile picture and the Manage your Google Account option.

3. 3

   Open Data & privacy

   In the menu on the left, choose Data & privacy. Scroll down to the section about data from apps and services you use.

4. 4

   Choose Delete a Google service

   Tap Delete a Google service. For security reasons Google will ask you to re-enter your password before showing the list of services.

5. 5

   Delete just the mail

   On the list of services, click the trash icon next to Gmail. This removes only the mail, not your whole Google account. The rest of the services, like Drive or YouTube, keep working.

6. 6

   Provide a backup address and confirm

   Google will ask for another email address outside the gmail.com domain, which becomes your new sign-in for the account. A confirmation link will arrive at that address - open it and finish deleting the mail. From then on you sign in with that new email instead of the old address.

The Gmail service vs the whole Google account

These are two different operations. Deleting the Gmail service removes only the mail and the address, but the Google account itself stays along with Drive, Photos, YouTube and your purchase history. You then sign in with the backup address you provided.

Deleting the whole Google account wipes everything at once. You'll find it at the bottom of the Data & privacy section as Delete your Google Account. It removes the mail, your Drive files, photos, Google Play subscriptions and YouTube channel. Choose this option only when you really no longer need any Google service tied to that account.

How to remove Gmail from your phone without deleting the account

If the mail only needs to disappear from your phone, don't delete anything in your Google account settings. Go to the system settings, open Accounts (on some phones it's Accounts and backup), select the Google account and tap Remove account.

This move disconnects the account from that device - the mail, contacts and calendar vanish from that phone, but the account itself keeps working. You can sign in to it in a browser or on another device at any time.

Before you delete, check where you sign in with Gmail

The same Gmail address often serves as a login for shops, banking, social media and two-step verification. Once it's deleted, you'll no longer receive codes or password reset links in that mailbox.

So go through your most important services and change the contact address in them to a new one before you delete the mail. It also helps to set up forwarding in Gmail to another address a few weeks before deleting, to catch any forgotten accounts.

A deleted address never comes back

Once an address in the gmail.com domain is deleted, you can't recover it or register it again later. Google doesn't release deleted names and won't assign them to a new account, even after years.

So before you confirm the deletion, make sure nobody signs in with that address to your bank, shops or other services. Change the contact address in the important places ahead of time.

Frequently asked questions