How to delete your Google account

Ridding yourself of Google’s services like Gmail, YouTube, Drive, and more is a quick and easy procedure

(AFP via Getty Images)

Google has a range of services, including its Chrome browser, Gmail, Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and many more.

All of these features work best with a Google account, but some may want to leave the technology giant behind.

It is possible to delete single services without deleting the entire account, but for those who want a fresh start it is relatively straightforward.

In order to delete your Google account, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Data and Privacy section of your Google account. This can be found at this link.

Then, scroll to the section that says: "Your data & privacy options."

Select “More options”, and then navigate to the “Delete your Google Account” section.

Google will then make the user sign in with their email address and password to ensure that they want to continue with this.

It will require users to check two boxes, the first states: “Yes, I acknowledge I am responsible for any charges incurred due to any pending financial transaction and I understand that under certain circumstances my earnings won’t be paid out.”

The second states: “Yes, I want to permanently delete this Google account and all its data.”

Once that is done, click the “Delete Account” button and the process will be completed.

Google warns that users will lose access to Google Play apps on Android, contacts stored in the Google account, and data from its Drive cloud storage.

People using Google’s Chromebook computers will not be able to use any Chrome apps or extensions for the deleted account.

Google recommends that users download their data before deleting their accounts.

This can be done by going to a dedicated “Download your data” section and following the steps – with users selecting specifically which data they do or do not want to keep. It can then be sent via email, or to an online cloud service like Dropbox, OneDrive, and others.