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Formerly known as Twitter, X social media, X users welcomed the news of Google’s initiative to delete dormant Gmail accounts with joy and celebratory fanfare.
X, previously Twitter which was launched in March 2006 by CEO Jack Dorsey, alongside his team of tech gurus and colleagues Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. Throughout its history, X had refrained from deleting or setting expiring timeline for X usernames.
During X’s early days, smartphones were a rarity, majority of individuals were only accessing the internet through desktops and laptops not like today lifestyle, majority of people access internet with their Smartphones. The number of registered email addresses and phone numbers then were less compared to the current global count of 6 billion internet users. As a result, many individuals who had registered Gmail accounts for their Twitter profiles subsequently lost access due to forgotten logins.
Google’s decision to automate delete inactive Gmail accounts offers a renewed opportunity for those who have been longing to reclaim their X usernames. This development is seen as an “answered prayer” by many.
Additionally, some users may opt to create new Gmail accounts and gain access to X profiles that have been left dormant for years by their original owners, some accounts maybe of deceased people.
Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company of platforms like Facebook, implemented a policy of disabling and deleting unused accounts after 1 year for Facebook, 120 days for inactive WhatsApp accounts, and 1 to 2 years of inactivity Instagram accounts. On the other hand, Telegram users have the flexibility to choose their account deletion timeline, ranging from 1 month, 6 months, to 1 year of inactivity, based on account user preference.
Google has rolled out its strategy to eliminate unused Gmail accounts, which is already in effect. The first batch of accounts deletions for inactive accounts is scheduled to take place in August 2025, marking the culmination of a two-year timeline, according to Google’s announcement.
