Google is purging old Gmail data and photos. Here's how you can keep it from happening to you.

• Google said it will begin purging the data of inactive Google accounts this month.
• You can keep your account active by logging in at least once every two years.

Google's purge of Gmail data and photos belonging to inactive accounts is set to begin Friday, December 1.

"Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents – including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos," Ruth Kricheli, Google's vice president of product management, announced in May.

Fortunately, it doesn't take much to keep your account active — just log into it at least once every two years. Alternatively, you can read an email, watch a YouTube video, or use Google search while logged in to your account, Kricheli said.

The company sent out an email to all Gmail users in August reminding them of the change.

Kricheli cited security concerns as the reason for the purge. Abandoned accounts are 10 times more likely than active accounts to lack 2-step-verification, which makes them prone to being compromised, she wrote.

Google's policy change has not been without critics. Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, for one, wrote that deleting old accounts with YouTube or Blogger content was like "burning the commons." He added, "Hope no one was trusting Google with anything important!"

Kricheli's initial announcement has since been updated to clarify that Google does not plan to delete any YouTube videos.

Some of the comments on X — formerly known as Twitter — surrounding the account purge were about the inactive accounts of dead friends and family.

Like Meta and Microsoft, Google provides a way for people to request access to accounts of their deceased loved ones — but it recommends that users proactively make plans through its inactive account manager. A 2019 study by University of Oxford researchers found that dead accounts could outnumber the living on Facebook by 2070.