Google will start deleting millions of Gmail accounts in December

In December, Google will start deleting inactive Gmail accounts, the number of which may reach millions. Users who haven't logged into their accounts or used Google services for two years will receive advance email notifications.

Users who regularly use Google's Gmail, Documents, Calendar, or Photos services will keep their accounts. However, if the account has not been used for two years, the user's data on those services will be deleted along with it.

"Before deleting an account, we'll send multiple notifications several months in advance to both the account's email address and the recovery email address," Google said.

According to Google representatives, deleting inactive user accounts will help protect users from potential cyber attacks. They explain this by the fact that criminals can hack accounts that are not in use, because they often use outdated passwords or repeated used for other accounts.

In addition, Google noted that inactive accounts rarely have two-factor authentication enabled, which is one of the main ways to protect against unauthorized access to an account.