Looking to find an old email account? Or an old social media account? Here's a step-by-step guide on how to delete an online account you no longer use. Show Just about everything we do online requires us to submit an email address or create an account. It seems unavoidable to give up protection of our identity online in exchange for the information and services we want — downloading apps, reading articles, shopping online, etc. But we accept this and move on. As they say, out of sight, out of mind. Leaving digital accounts, app downloads, and email sign-ups live but inactive can put your online privacy and data at risk of being misused or stolen. Fear not. We created this guide to help you find old accounts you no longer need, deactivate or delete them, and protect yourself from hackers. How to find old email and social media accountsResurrect
old emails Search for terms like “welcome,” “new account,” “password,” “confirm email,” “validate account,” “thank you for joining,” or “thanks for signing up.” Don’t forget to search for your favorite usernames. Make sure to go back a few months or years to see what pops up. If you use Gmail, you can enter this in the search box: [before:2017/01/01] or any date you wish in the yyyy/mm/dd format in combination with the words above. You can also use the search operator [older_than:] and add whatever value you want [4y], [8m], [90d]. Look up your username in search engines Do a search for your name (with quotation marks around it to contain results) and email addresses as well. You may want to create a Google Alert for your username or proper name to see if any obscure results pop up. Try online repositories and privacy sitesSometimes it takes an unfortunate event like a data breach to find your usernames or old accounts. Sites like Avast Hack Check offer a robust database of hacked websites and stolen log-in details. Just sign up and Hack Check will alert you if your email address shows up in any known lists of security data breaches or other types of illegal online activity. An alert could jog your memory about a forgotten service associated with that alternate email address. Check
saved logins for passwords In Google Chrome > Settings > Passwords > Saved Passwords In Safari > Preferences > Passwords In Firefox > Options > Security > Saved Passwords > Show Passwords In Microsoft Edge > Settings > Passwords & Autofill > Manage Passwords In Internet Explorer > Settings > View Advanced Settings > Manage Passwords Use a password manager? Check those too. How to close old online accounts
How do I access emails from years ago?About This Article. Open Gmail.. Type "before:date" in the search bar.. Replace "date" with a date in YYYY/MM/DD format.. Press Enter or Return.. Click on the email you want to view.. How do I recover my Gmail account years ago?If you remember your password but not the email address, Google offers a way to retrieve it.. Go to Google's Find My Email page. ... . Enter your recovery email or phone number. ... . Enter your first and last name. ... . Send verification code. ... . Enter the verification code. ... . Choose an account. ... . Enter your password.. How can I find all my old emails?Follow these steps to search all your emails, including those that aren't in your inbox:. On your computer, open Gmail.. In the search box, click the Down arrow .. Click the All Mail drop down, then select Mail & Spam & Trash.. Enter some information that's in the missing email. ... . At the bottom of the box, click Search .. |