Outside the UK? Read the global version of this guide.
When a family says they need to close a loved one's Gmail, they nearly always mean the whole Google Account: the email, the photos, the Drive documents, the YouTube channel, the Android phone, and the Google One or YouTube subscriptions still charging a card. One login controls all of it, which is why this request deserves more care than a social media profile.
In short: Google has one form for a deceased user with three options: close the account, request money from it, or request data from it. Closing needs your ID and the death certificate. Money needs the grant of probate or letters of administration. Data needs a court order. Closing the account first makes a later data request impossible, so decide about the photos before you close anything.
Read this before you submit anything
Google's own page carries a warning families miss: once an account is closed, Google cannot process any later request for its contents. If there is any chance the family wants the photos in Google Photos, the documents in Drive or the emails themselves, sort that out first. Closing is the last step, not the first.
The other thing to check first is whether the person set up Inactive Account Manager. It is Google's own legacy tool: the person chooses what happens after a period of inactivity, and can name someone to receive their data. If it was set up, that person gets an email from Google when the timer runs out, with links to download what the person chose to share. Nothing needs submitting; it just needs time and the named person's own Google login.
Work out which account it is
You need the exact Gmail address. Look at emails the person sent to family, at the account on their Android phone under Settings, or at the address showing in Google Photos or YouTube on a device they stayed signed in on. A Google Account can also exist on a non-Gmail address, for example a work or ISP email used to sign up to YouTube. If the person had several, note each one; every account is a separate request.
Google's three routes
Search "Google deceased user request" or open Google Account Help and choose "Submit a request regarding a deceased user's account". Choose the close option. You upload the death certificate and your own government ID, give the Gmail address, and explain your relationship. Immediate family or the estate's representative can ask. Google reviews it and replies by email, sometimes with questions; answer promptly, because unanswered cases go quiet.
If the person earned money through AdSense, which is how YouTube pays, or had a Google Pay balance, the estate can ask for it. Google asks for the estate paperwork: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the grant of probate or letters of administration, in Scotland the confirmation. Expect to provide the executor's ID as well.
This is the route for the photos and the emails, and it is the hard one. Google reviews these case by case. Its form warns that where Google LLC is the provider of the account, an approved request then needs a court order issued in the United States, and Google's UK terms name Google LLC as the provider for UK accounts. A grant of probate does not take the place of that order. Google will not provide a password under any circumstances. Most UK families conclude that the person's phone, laptop or a relative's shared album is the more realistic source of the photos, and use the closure route instead.
What to have ready
- The death certificate, as a clear photo or PDF. An interim certificate from a coroner is generally accepted.
- Your passport or driving licence.
- For money or data, the grant of probate or letters of administration naming you.
- If your surname differs from the person's, the birth or marriage certificate that links you.
- The exact Gmail address, and any other Google addresses the person had.
Our documents guide explains how to get certified copies and how to photograph them so they are accepted first time.
What stops when the account closes
- Gmail stops receiving. Anything sent to the address bounces, which is one reason to close it last, after the other accounts that use it for password resets are dealt with.
- Google Photos, Drive and Docs are deleted, including anything shared with other people through the account.
- The YouTube channel and its videos are removed.
- Google One, YouTube Premium and any app subscriptions through Google Play stop.
- An Android phone signed in to the account may need a factory reset to be reused, and Google will not unlock a phone for a family.
How long it takes
Google publishes no timescale. Closure requests with clean documents are usually acknowledged within days and completed within a few weeks. Requests that ask for money or data take longer and may need more than one exchange of emails. Keep every email from Google; the reference number in it is how you chase.
When it goes wrong
- No reply. Check the junk folder first, then resubmit after three weeks with the same documents and a line saying it is a second request.
- Google asks for a document you do not have. Usually the estate paperwork on a money request. Reply explaining that probate is pending and ask whether the closure can proceed separately, which it usually can.
- Two-step verification codes are still going to the phone. That does not affect the request, but keep the phone number live until the request completes.
- The photos are all you wanted. Stop, and read the section above on data before closing anything.
- You are trying to get in, or Google has said court order. Our page on what to do when you cannot access a deceased person's Google account takes each situation in turn.
Or let us handle Google and everything else
Departed Digital submits the Google request with the right documents for the route the family wants, keeps the email thread with Google moving, and deals with every other account in the same case. If the case is mostly one Google account, the Essential package covers it. If Google is one part of a wider estate, Standard or Estate fits better. Packages start from £149.
Want the photos out first? Email us what the family is hoping to keep and we will tell you honestly what is realistic. Or start a case.