Google warns billions of Gmail users their account could be DELETED at the end of the year – how to protect yours

GMAIL users have been warned they could lose their account if they don’t use it enough.

Google is planning a massive clean up at the end of the year.

GettyGoogle is clearing out old, disused accounts[/caption]

Gmail accounts that haven’t been signed into for at least two years face being purged for good.

The tech giant said it’ll start deleting inactive profiles from December.

Losing your account will not only mean no more access to your old emails, but also any documents, photos and YouTube content associated with it.

Google says the move is actually for security.

Forgotten or unattended accounts “often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised”, the firm explains.

They’re also less likely to have more recent features such as two factor authentication set up.

Old accounts are at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have the security boosting feature on.

“These accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” Google continues.

The company will start by eliminating accounts that were created and never used again.

Affected users will receive warning notifications in the months leading up to deletion that will be sent to the account.

It’ll be sent to your recovery email too if you have one assigned.

The best way to prevent your account being deleted is by making sure you sign in at least once every two years.

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