Google has recently announced that it will be removing accounts that have been inactive for two years starting in December 2023. Now, the company has clarified in an updated blog post that it would not delete accounts with listed YouTube videos.
The initial move was set to clear all of Google’s products, including Docs, Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calander, Google Photos, and of course, YouTube. This was in an effort to increase security, as the tech giant stated that older accounts are less likely to have two-factor enabled, which could lead to safety breaches.
It’s also been speculated that the move is an effort to free up some space on Google’s servers.
Before updating the blog post with some much-needed clarification, there was concern from the community that the update would see the end of some of YouTube’s nostalgic relics. We all know those accounts that have released a gem during YouTube’s golden age, only to see they were last active somewhere between 2006 and 2009.
Now, fans of the platform can sleep peacefully knowing that those videos are safe on the site, at least for now.
Aside from YouTube, the company is planning on sending out warnings to accounts in danger of being deleted and urging them to add recovery emails by the end of the year. If these accounts don’t comply with the warning email, they are subject to deactivation within 60 days and complete removal 60 days after that.
