A checklist of digital accounts to close after a death

Most families think first about Facebook. The real list is much longer, and the accounts that cause trouble months later are the ones nobody thought to look for: the email that resets every other password, the cloud storage that holds the photos, the payment app with money still in it, the subscriptions charging a card that no longer belongs to anyone.

This is the checklist we use, written for families anywhere in the world, with the country-specific names where they differ. Work down it once with a pen, tick what applies, and you have the whole job on one page. You do not need to find everything before you start, and you do not need a single password for any of it. If the person lived in the UK, the UK edition has the British names.

Before you close anything

• Keep the phone charged and do not reset it. Even locked, it shows which apps and accounts the person had, and it receives the security codes other accounts send.
• Keep the phone number active for a few months. Security codes and password resets arrive by text.
• Close the email account last. Renewal notices and account recovery messages for everything else land there. Our email guide explains why.
• Save what matters first. Photos, messages and documents cannot be recovered once an account is closed.
• Check what they set up. A legacy contact on Apple, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, or Google's Inactive Account Manager, changes what the family can do.

Social media

• Facebook: memorialise or remove. Guide. If a request has stalled, what to do next.
• Instagram: memorialise or remove, separately from Facebook even if linked. Guide.
• Threads: follows the Instagram account.
• TikTok: memorialise or delete. Save the videos first. Guide.
• X (Twitter): deactivation only, no memorial state. Guide.
• LinkedIn: memorialise or close. Guide.
• Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, a YouTube channel, dating apps, forums: each has a support route and no form. Note them down. They are usually last.

Email and the accounts that unlock everything

• Gmail, Outlook or Hotmail, Yahoo, iCloud Mail: close last. Email guide.
• An address from the internet provider, such as comcast.net, att.net, bell.net, bigpond.com, xtra.co.nz or eircom.net. Ask the provider what happens to the address before the internet account is closed.
• Google Account: one login for Gmail, Photos, Drive, YouTube and an Android phone. Guide.
• Apple Account (Apple ID): iCloud photos, backups, the iPhone's Activation Lock. Check for a Legacy Contact before doing anything. Guide.
• Microsoft account: Outlook, OneDrive, Xbox, Microsoft 365. Guide.
• Password manager: 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, or the browser's saved passwords. If you can reach it, it is the master list.

Messaging

• WhatsApp: no memorial option and no form. Export the chats you want to keep before the number is cancelled. Guide.
• Messenger: handled with the Facebook account.
• Signal, Telegram, iMessage: tied to the phone number or the Apple Account.
• WeChat, LINE, KakaoTalk, Viber: if the family used one of these, it is probably where the most recent messages are. Save them from the phone first.

Money and shopping

• PayPal: the balance is part of the estate. Guide.
• Payment apps: Venmo, Cash App, Wise, Revolut and similar. Check each one for a balance, because it belongs to the estate too.
• Amazon: Prime, Kindle, Audible, Alexa recordings, gift card balance. Guide.
• Selling accounts: eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, Depop, Vinted, Kijiji, Gumtree, Trade Me. Check for open sales, unpaid fees and money owed to the person.
• Apple and Google app subscriptions: billed through the Apple or Google account, not the app.
• Online banking, savings, investment and retirement apps: these go through the bank's or provider's own bereavement team, not through this list, but write them down here so nothing is missed.
• Cryptocurrency: an account at an exchange can be claimed by the estate. A private wallet can only be opened with its keys or recovery phrase, so look for those among the papers.
• Loyalty and points: airline miles, hotel points, supermarket and pharmacy cards. Some can be transferred to a relative or the estate. Ask each one.

Subscriptions that keep charging

Twelve months of bank and card statements is the fastest way to find these. Most stop by themselves once the bank knows about the death and the card fails, but some are billed to another family member's card or through PayPal. Our subscriptions guide covers which is which.

• Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, and the local services: Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock, Crave, Stan and Binge, Neon
• Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, YouTube Premium
• Cloud storage: iCloud+, Google One, Dropbox, OneDrive
• Software and apps: Microsoft 365, antivirus, VPNs, dating apps, fitness and meditation apps
• Home devices: Ring, Nest, smart alarm monitoring
• Newspapers, magazines, meal kits, delivery memberships

Phone, internet and TV

• Cell phone or mobile plan: every large carrier has a route for a customer who has died, and can close the account or move the number to someone else. Keep the SIM active until the other accounts are done. Our guides list the carriers for the United States and the UK. Elsewhere, ask for the bereavement or deceased customer team.
• Home internet and landline: the same route, and the email address that came with it.
• Cable, satellite and streaming boxes: ask what equipment has to be returned.

One form for many organisations

Some countries have a single notification that reaches many organisations. None of them reaches the online accounts on this list, but they shorten the rest of the paperwork.

• United States: the funeral home generally reports the death to Social Security, so you do not usually need to. To stop the advertising mail, see our guide to mail for a deceased person.
• Australia: the Australian Death Notification Service is a free government service that tells banks, super funds, utilities, councils and insurers with one online form.
• United Kingdom: Tell Us Once, offered when you register the death, covers government departments and the council.

Devices and the data on them

• Phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, smartwatch, camera memory cards, external drives
• Smart speakers and doorbells that still record
• Games consoles and their accounts: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam

Our guide to a loved one's phone covers what to do with and without the passcode.

Work, public and creative accounts

• LinkedIn, a personal website or domain name, a blog, a YouTube channel, a podcast
• Freelance platforms, a Patreon or Substack, a shop on Etsy or Shopify
• Professional memberships, GitHub, portfolio sites

A domain name is the one people forget. When it expires, the website disappears and the email addresses on it stop working, and someone else can register it.

The order to do it in

The two documents you will need again and again

Almost every request on this list asks for the same two things: the death certificate, and something that shows you are entitled to act, such as a birth or marriage certificate that links you to the person, or the court document that appoints you to deal with the estate. Our documents guide explains what each is called in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Nobody on this list should ever ask you for a password.

Or let us work through the list for you

Departed Digital closes or memorialises the accounts on this checklist for the family. You tell us which ones you know about, you send the documents once, and you receive a written record at the end. Packages start from £149, checkout shows your local currency automatically, and we work with families in the UK and internationally.