What happens to my accounts?

One detail catches families out. Apple's page for families says that devices locked with a passcode are protected by passcode encryption, and Apple cannot remove the passcode lock without erasing the device. Activation Lock is removed automatically once a Legacy Contact request or an account deletion request is completed. A phone in a drawer does not give your family your photos on its own.

1. With a Legacy Contact's access key. This is the simplest route. Your Legacy Contact starts the request on an Apple device (Settings, your name, Sign-In & Security, Legacy Contact, Request Access) or on Apple's Digital Legacy website. They need:

• the access key you created when you chose them,
• your death certificate, uploaded as PDF, PNG, TIF, JPEG or GIF of at least 300 dpi (Apple notes the requirements may vary by country or region. In Japan, for example, a family certificate may be needed instead).

They do not need their own Apple Account or device to begin. Apple says it verifies the information and then gives them a special Legacy Contact Apple Account. From that moment your original Apple Account no longer works and Activation Lock is removed from your devices. They can sign in at iCloud.com, or erase and restore your device and sign in with the new account.

Access lasts three years from when Apple approves the first Legacy Contact request. After that, the account is permanently deleted.

2. Delete the account. A family can ask Apple to permanently delete the account and its data through Apple's Digital Legacy account page. Apple asks for legal documentation proving the right to make the request.

3. A court order. In the U.S., Israel and other locales, a family can request access with a court order. Apple says the order should give the name and Apple Account of the deceased and the name of the next of kin asking for access, state that the deceased was the user of all accounts linked to that Apple Account and that the person asking is their legal personal representative, agent or heir, and order Apple to assist in providing access to the deceased's information. Apple lists France, Germany, Japan, Australia and New Zealand among the places where other documents may be accepted instead. Apple says it generally needs a death certificate and may also need a court order or other documents.

Apple is clear about the limits. A Legacy Contact cannot access:

• movies, music, books or subscriptions you bought with your Apple Account,
• anything in iCloud Keychain: payment information, passwords and passkeys.

Apple also says some data may be end to end encrypted, and Apple cannot decrypt it. The family may be asked for your device passcode or other information.

Dropbox's page about inactive accounts says it may close and delete inactive Dropbox Basic accounts. It judges activity by log-ins and by file activity (adding, editing or deleting files) anywhere on Dropbox over the past 12 months. Activity in Dropbox Sign or DocSend does not count. Before closing an account, Dropbox sends several reminder emails, each giving the deletion date. After closure, the files are deleted within 90 days, and Dropbox says it does not reopen accounts closed for inactivity.

This rule applies to Dropbox Basic only. The page does not describe any inactivity deletion for paid plans. But a paid plan needs payments, and after a death those often stop.

First, the computer. "Many Dropbox users have all of the files from their account available in this folder", the page says, meaning the Dropbox folder on the person's computer, which syncs with the account online. If the family can open that computer, the files may already be there.

Second, a request to Dropbox. If the computer is not an option, the request goes through dropbox.com/support and must include:

1. The deceased person's full name.
2. The email address of their Dropbox account.
3. The requester's name, mailing address, email and relationship to the person.
4. A photocopy of the requester's government-issued ID.
5. A valid court order establishing that it was the person's intent that the requester have access to their files after death, and that Dropbox is compelled by law to provide that access.

Dropbox says it puts the security and privacy of its customers first, that the process "can take some time", and that it cannot guarantee access.

Before deleting, Google says it sends notifications to the account's email address and to the recovery email, if there is one. Google's 2023 announcement of the policy speaks of "multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion". After a death, those warnings usually go to an inbox nobody reads.

The policy lists exceptions. An account is kept if it has an active purchase or subscription, a gift card balance, a published app with transactions, manages a child's account through Family Link, or was used to buy a digital item such as a book or a movie. It also does not cover accounts set up for you by a work, school or other organization. Those are handled by that organization.

Two years can sound long. For a grieving family it passes quickly, so a request through Google's own form is better made early.

1. Close the account of a deceased user.
2. Request funds from a deceased user's account.
3. Obtain data from a deceased user's account.

Google says it works with immediate family members and representatives, and that any decision is made only after a careful review. The landing page of the form does not say which documents are needed. The questions appear once a request type is chosen.

Two sentences on that page matter most:

• "We cannot provide passwords or other login details." Your family will not get your Google password, whatever they send.
• "If you select to close the Google account, Google is unable to process any request to turn over the contents of the account at a later date." If your family wants photos or files, they should ask for data before asking for closure.

• Outlook.com and OneDrive accounts are frozen after 1 year without use, and the emails and OneDrive files are deleted shortly after.
• Microsoft accounts expire after 2 years of inactivity.

So if you do nothing and nobody acts, your mail and files will most likely disappear within a year or so. There is no memorial status for a Microsoft account.

If someone knows your sign-in details. They can close the account through Microsoft's normal closure process. After closing, the account can be reopened within 60 days by signing in again. After 60 days, the account and its data are permanently deleted.

If nobody knows your sign-in details. Microsoft says that for privacy and legal reasons it is generally unable to give information to anyone other than the account holder. Before it will even consider releasing a deceased or incapacitated person's email (addresses at Outlook.com, Live.com, Hotmail.com and MSN.com), OneDrive files or anything else in the account, it must be formally served with a valid subpoena or court order. The page advises seeking legal counsel and says plainly that sending a request or a court order does not guarantee access.

The page lists a few local routes:

• Germany: the family contacts Microsoft support with proof of legal succession, including the death certificate, an inheritance document and ID.
• China: the family provides a death certificate, proof of a close family relationship (spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild), ID and a signed statement.
• Europe: legal documents are served on Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd, 70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Unless the routes for Germany or China apply, the realistic outcomes are closing the account, or, after a court order, a decision by Microsoft about what it can lawfully release.

• The mailbox. Yahoo's page "Inactive mailboxes in Yahoo Mail" says: "If you don't access your Yahoo Mail mailbox for 12 months, it becomes inactive." Then all emails, folders, contacts and mailbox settings are permanently deleted and can't be restored. Yahoo sends reminders 90, 60 and 30 days before, to the mailbox and to any alternative address on file. Signing in to the Yahoo account alone does not count. The mailbox itself has to be opened. An active Yahoo Mail Plus subscription prevents deletion for inactivity.
• The account. Another Yahoo page says an account nobody signs in to for 18 months is scheduled for deactivation and deletion.

So after a death, the emails are the first thing at risk, about a year after the last time anyone opened the mailbox.

In the United States

The US page says it "applies to U.S. accounts only". It offers three online forms:

1. Close the account. Needs a copy of the death certificate, issued in the United States.
2. Suspend or cancel billing and premium services. Needs the same death certificate. If there is none yet, the page gives Yahoo Customer Service's number: 866-265-4025.
3. Request the content. Needs the death certificate, the requester's government-issued ID and a court order issued in the United States that satisfies Yahoo's requirements.

Documents can also be sent by post to Concierge Executive Escalations, Yahoo, 11955 Democracy Dr, Reston, VA 20190-5662.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland

The UK page says the account and its content are not transferable, except in some limited cases under German law. It offers two routes:

• Closure, which the page says also suspends billing and premium services and deletes the contents. You need a written request stating the Yahoo ID, a document appointing you as personal representative or executor, the death certificate and your ID. The page says to contact Customer Care for help.
• Content disclosure, which needs an Irish court order addressed to Yahoo International Limited that names the Yahoo ID, and the claimant's national ID.

• Yandex Mail: the Mail terms (clause 2.3) say a mailbox not used for more than 24 months may be archived. The owner can return within 6 months. If nobody logs in, the mailbox may be deleted with all its emails.
• Yandex ID: the help page "Deleting inactive accounts" says an account unused for 2.5 years may be deleted along with all its data. Warning emails go first to the email address linked to the account and to the recovery address, if one was added. A deleted account cannot be recovered.

The same help page lists accounts that are not deleted for inactivity: those with a Yandex Bank account, an unpaid Yandex Split balance, Yandex Balance in use, a Yandex 360 for Business admin role, and child accounts.

Two things are clear from the terms:

• The Yandex ID Terms of Use (clause 5.1) say a user may not transfer their access credentials to a third party, except where the terms allow it. The terms describe no exception for heirs.
• The usual recovery forms are meant for the account owner. We do not suggest filling them in on behalf of someone who has died.

If your family needs something from a Yandex account, the only official channel we found is Yandex ID support (chat or form). What it will do in such a case, we could not verify.

Discord's Terms of Service say the same thing in their own words: Discord may suspend or terminate an account that has been inactive for more than two years.

So if nobody does anything, the account stays as it is and may be deleted once it has gone two years without a login. The page says "may", so this is not a promise.

Deletion. The page describes three routes:

1. From inside the account. If you can sign in, go to User Settings (the cog icon), stay on the My Account tab, scroll to Account Removal and press Delete Account. Discord asks for the account's password.

2. From the account's own email address. If you have access to it, or are writing from it, include this sentence in the request: "I confirm that I would like to delete the account associated with [email address]."

3. From any other email address. Discord asks for documents, as photocopies or scans:

   • the email address on the account and the Discord username,
   • proof of death: a death certificate or coroner's report,
   • proof of your relationship: a marriage licence, birth certificate, last will and testament, estate letter, or power of attorney,
   • your identity: a valid photo ID or passport,
   • an explicit statement: "I request to have the account associated with [email and/or username] deleted."

   You may black out details such as birthdays and addresses, as long as names stay visible.

Requests go through Discord's support request form. Support may reply asking for more information.

Billing. For questions about payments on the account, Discord points to its support form: choose Billing and the closest type of issue.

Memorial or transfer. Discord says it does not currently have a feature to memorialize or transfer accounts. It suggests sending the idea to its feedback site.

Once Facebook receives a valid request, it can memorialize the account. According to the page "About Memorialized Accounts", a memorialized profile works like this:

• The word Remembering is shown next to the person's name.
• Posts and photos stay visible to the audience they were shared with.
• Depending on privacy settings, friends can share memories on the profile.
• The profile no longer appears in People You May Know, ads or birthday reminders.
• No one can log into it.
• If there is no legacy contact, the account can't be changed at all.
• A Page whose only admin had a memorialized account will be removed if Facebook receives a valid request.

Memorialization. Facebook's page on reporting a deceased person says it memorializes an account once it receives a valid request, sent through its memorialization request form. The form itself showed a login page when we tried to read it, so we can't list its fields.

Removal. According to "Request removal of a deceased family member's Facebook account", the fastest route is a scan or photo of the death certificate. Without it, the family needs two documents:

• one proof of authority: a power of attorney, a birth certificate (if the person was a minor), a last will and testament, or an estate letter,
• one proof of death: an obituary or a memorial card.

The details on the documents must match the account, and Facebook asks you to cover sensitive numbers you don't need to share. The special request form says removal requests are for immediate family members or executors.

Content. Facebook says it considers requests for extra account information only in rare cases, and asks for a court order plus proof that you are an authorized representative, such as a family member. Sending the documents does not guarantee anything.

Passwords are never handed over. Facebook states it can't provide login information for someone else's account, even in these circumstances.

When Instagram receives a valid request, it can memorialize the profile. According to "About memorialized Instagram profiles":

• The word Remembering is shown next to the person's name.
• Posts stay visible to the audience they were shared with.
• The profile doesn't appear in places like Explore.
• No one can log into it.
• Without a legacy contact, nothing on it can be changed: photos and videos, comments on the person's posts, privacy settings, the profile photo, followers and following.

Removal. According to "Report a deceased person's profile on Instagram", verified immediate family members can ask for the profile to be removed. Instagram asks for proof that you are family, such as:

• the person's birth certificate,
• the person's death certificate,
• proof under local law that you are the lawful representative of the person or their estate.

Removal requests go through a separate form linked from that page.

Passwords are never handed over. Instagram says it can't provide login information for a memorialized profile, because logging into someone else's account goes against its policies.

The pages we read say nothing about a family requesting a copy of a deceased person's photos or messages.

Neither of LinkedIn's help pages on deceased members mentions an inactivity rule, so we cannot say whether an unused account is ever removed on its own.

Anyone can report the member as deceased. If you are not authorized to act for the person, LinkedIn says you can only report the member as deceased, and it will memorialize the profile once it confirms that you are a LinkedIn connection of the member or share their last name. According to that page, memorializing means:

• access to the account is locked,
• a memorialized badge appears on the profile page as a symbol of remembrance,
• LinkedIn products are cancelled, except Apple subscriptions, and connections to third party services are terminated.

The page adds that within 48 hours LinkedIn stops notifications sent to the member, notifications about the member to their network, and connection requests to or from them, and removes the member from features such as "People you may know".

Only an authorized person can close the account. Closure is for someone with the authority to act on behalf of the member. LinkedIn accepts only court documents for this: Letters of Administration, Letters Testamentary, Letters of Representation, or another court order appointing the person as an authorized representative. The page "Deceased LinkedIn member" also asks for a copy of the death certificate for closure.

LinkedIn lists what it does not accept as proof of authority: birth or marriage certificates, social security cards, driver's licences, passports and other ID, wills, trusts or power of attorney documents, email authorizations, unsigned documents, screenshots, legal contracts and other informal documents. So a will on its own is not enough.

For either request LinkedIn asks for the member's full name, their LinkedIn profile URL and your relationship to them, and, where you have them, their email address, the date of death and a link to an obituary or news article.

Once an account is closed, LinkedIn says it can take up to 30 days to delete the data completely.

What nobody gets: LinkedIn says it is against its policy to allow others to sign in to another member's account. There is no password hand-over.

OK's licence agreement (clause 5.19) mentions only one consequence of inactivity: if an account is not used for 1 year or more, OK may free its short name for someone else, and the page keeps a regular numeric id. We found nothing about deleting unused profiles.

• Delete the page.
• Put a mourning frame (траурная рамка) on the main photo. The help article on the frame says the photo turns black and white, a black ribbon appears, and the profile becomes visible only to friends. Birthday notifications to friends stop, and so does OK's birthday gift to the user.

What to send to OK Support:

• a link to the profile,
• the death certificate.

If you cannot find the link, OK asks for the person's first name, surname, age and city and says it will try to find the profile. The article links to OK Support, where you follow the prompts on screen.

Two limits are stated plainly:

• OK does not give access to the accounts of users who have died, and does not hand over any data from their profiles, including login details.
• A profile deleted this way cannot be restored.

OK's licence agreement (clause 8.2) also says each user must keep their login and password confidential and prevent others from logging in.

We found no inactivity rule in Pinterest's help page on deleting accounts, in its Terms of Service or in its Privacy Policy. So we cannot say whether an account that is never used again is ever removed on its own.

• Pinterest can delete a deceased family member's account if you get in touch with Pinterest and provide verification, like an obituary or death certificate.
• Once Pinterest deletes the account, it is no longer accessible.
• To respect the privacy of people on Pinterest, it cannot give out any personal or login information.

That is the whole of it. The section does not link a form or list steps. Pinterest's help centre has a general page, "Contact Pinterest support", but we could not see its options because they load by script, so we cannot say which one fits.

What nobody gets: a password, a login, or the account's personal information. The page offers deletion only, not a memorial and not a hand-over.

So if nobody does anything, the profile, posts and comments stay as they were, under your username, unless Reddit deactivates the account for inactivity. One help page adds that usernames can't be reused, even after an account is deleted, so an old username is not handed to someone else.

What Reddit's pages do say, all written for the account owner:

• Deleting an account is done from the account's settings and needs the account's password. The page "How do I delete my account?" also says that Reddit administrators can't delete an account on your behalf. It does not say whether this changes after a death.
• After deletion, according to "If I delete my account, what happens to my username, posts, and comments?", the profile is removed and the username becomes unusable, but posts, comments, messages and chats stay on Reddit with no name attached. The deletion page adds that a deletion process commences within 90 days to remove or anonymize the account.
• A copy of the data is requested through a data request form after logging in to the account, and may take up to 30 days to prepare. No route is described for anyone else.
• Locked out. If an account protected by a verified email or two factor authentication cannot be reached, Reddit says it will not help with a data deletion request until access is regained.
• Legal requests. Reddit's guidelines for civil legal requests for account information ask for the username but say nothing about deceased users or estates.
• No hand-over. The User Agreement says you will not license, sell or transfer your account without Reddit's prior written approval.

So in practice the pages offer a family no sign in, no memorial and no stated way to have the account removed.

Inactivity. Snap's Terms of Service say: "we may terminate your account due to prolonged inactivity, and we may reclaim your username at any time for any reason." Snap says it will try to give reasonable notice but cannot guarantee it. The terms do not say how long "prolonged" is.

Chats. According to Snap's Privacy Policy, its systems are designed to delete Chats within 24 hours after the friend reads them, unless the default settings were changed or the Chat was saved. So much of what you sent may already be gone.

Memories. The Privacy Policy says Snap keeps what you store in Memories "as long as you need it." The Terms add that Memories content "might become unavailable" for reasons such as a decision to terminate your account, and Snap recommends keeping a separate copy.

• "Our privacy policies do not allow us to grant access to the account."
• Snap only accepts requests "from a verified email address associated with the Snapchatter's account."
• There is an online tool that lets "authenticated individuals" manage an account, and the article links to the steps for downloading data.
• To delete the account, it says to log in to the account at accounts.snapchat.com, click Delete My Account and follow the prompts.

Both routes on that page start from the account itself: its verified email address, or signing in. The article lists no documents, such as a death certificate, and describes no form for a family without that access.

If the account is deleted, Snapchat's deletion article says it is deactivated for 30 days, when it can still be reactivated, and permanently deleted after 30 more days (180 days in India). There are 30 days to download data. After that, data is permanently deleted after 60 days (210 days in India). Snap keeps some data, such as purchase records, for legal, security and business needs.

When an account is deleted, the FAQ says, groups and channels it created are left without a creator, though their admins keep their rights. Other people keep their own copies of the messages they received.

Secret chats are a separate case. The FAQ says they are device specific and are not part of the Telegram cloud: they can only be read on the device where they started.

So if nobody does anything, the account and its cloud messages disappear once the timer runs out. Until then the account simply stays as it is.

In practice, what the family can reach is what is on a device they can open. If the person's phone or computer is logged in to Telegram, the cloud chats are visible there, and secret chats are visible only on the device that holds them. Telegram does not describe this as a route for families, and reading someone's chats also touches the privacy of the people they wrote to.

A memorialized account, according to TikTok:

• stays visible: the profile and existing videos and photos can generally still be seen,
• can still be found in search, keeps existing comments, and related hashtags may stay active,
• can't be logged in to by anyone,
• can't be edited, including the username, unless a legacy contact has that permission,
• isn't suggested to others or shown in the For You feed,
• gets no new posts, Duets or Stitches,
• can't receive new direct messages, and the message history won't be accessible.

The page describes nothing else that happens to an account after a death. Separately, TikTok's Inactive Account Policy says that after 180 days or more without use, the username may be reset to a random number. TikTok adds that inactive users "will not be blocked, removed, or considered as inauthentic."

• their relationship to the deceased user,
• proof of death,
• proof that the deceased user owned the account.

TikTok links two online forms from that page: one "for deletion and memorialization requests" (its "Report a problem" form) and one "for data requests" (its "Request privacy information" form). The page does not say what documents count as proof, how long a request takes, or whether family can get a copy of the videos or messages through the data form. No one, family included, can log in to a memorialized account.

The terms do not let the account pass to anyone else: "You promise not to sell, rent, or transfer your account to anyone else." They add that, unless Twitch expressly permits it in writing, you may not sell, rent, lease, transfer, share, or provide access to your account to anyone else.

• Cancelling payments. Twitch "can help a family member or representative cancel and refund recurring charges" on the account. It may ask for more information if it cannot find the account, and it also recommends asking the bank to cancel automatic charges.
• Downloading or archiving video content. The page says families may wish to access past broadcasts, clips, highlights or archives. It does not say what Twitch will provide or how.
• Deleting the account. The family can ask for the account to be closed and deleted.

For any request, Twitch says it "will need to verify key details to ensure the validity of the request". The page does not list which documents it asks for.

The page "Delete My Twitch Account" is written for owners, but it shows what deletion means. It is permanent: within 90 days Twitch erases the content, including clips, highlights, user rewards and settings, and closes the account. Subscriptions are cancelled. The username is recycled, which takes at least 6 months. Partner and Affiliate accounts have to be offboarded before they can be deleted. The privacy notice adds that Twitch may keep some information where the law permits or requires it.

The account itself has a timer. The privacy policy says "your account may also be deactivated if you do not log into Viber for twelve consecutive months." The terms and the help centre say the same. The help centre adds that an app removed from the phone and not reinstalled within two weeks may also lead to deactivation.

According to the help article "Deactivate or uninstall Viber on your phone", deactivation:

• closes the account permanently, on every device,
• deletes the profile data from Viber's servers and the call and chat history from the phone,
• removes the person from groups, communities and channels, and deletes their scheduled messages there,
• removes any Viber Out credit, but does not cancel Viber Out plans,
• does not delete backups saved to Google Drive or iCloud.

The privacy policy adds that posts on channels and communities may remain available if they were not deleted. The terms say unused Viber Credit is frozen after six months and is lost when the account is deactivated.

What the family can realistically work with:

• The phone itself. If someone can unlock it, the chats are there.
• The backup. The help centre says a backup is tied to the phone number. It can be restored only with the same phone number and the same Google Drive or iCloud account, and not between Android and iPhone. If 2-step verification was set up, the PIN is asked for. The privacy policy says backups are kept by Google or Apple under their own terms, and Viber has no control over them. Whether the family can reach that backup depends on Google's or Apple's own process for a death, not on a password.
• The other side of each chat. Friends and relatives keep their own copies of conversations.

One practical point from the help centre: deactivating or uninstalling Viber does not cancel a Viber Out plan. A plan bought through Google Play or the App Store has to be cancelled there. For a plan paid by card, the article says to cancel it before uninstalling or deactivating Viber, and to contact Viber if that was not done.

Communities are the exception. VK's terms (clause 5.13.2) say VK may pass the admin rights of a community from its creator or owner to an active administrator, editor or moderator of that community, if the creator or owner has not been active on VK for a long period. VK decides how long that period is.

1. Delete the profile.
2. Restrict access and keep the profile on VK as a memory. There are two versions of this. VK can only remove access, or it can also close the profile from outside interference, while friends can still see its materials. The article says this helps if strangers post unacceptable material there, and that the profile can be closed this way later too, through a request to Support.

A profile kept as a memory no longer shows the time of the last visit and gets the label Profile of a deceased person («Профиль умершего человека»).

Two limits are stated plainly:

• VK does not give access to the accounts of people who have died.
• VK cannot act without the necessary documents. The article does not list them.

The request goes to VK Support through the Write to Support button on that article. VK's terms (clause 5.9) also say a user may not pass their login and password to third parties.

If the profile is deleted, VK's terms (clause 8.8) say all information on it is deleted with it. The privacy policy adds that VK keeps personal data for the period Russian law requires (clause 5.1.5), and that anything other users copied or keep on their own pages stays (clause 6.3.4).

The terms add that WhatsApp "may also disable or delete your account if it … remains inactive for an extended period of time." They do not say how long that period is. WhatsApp has a help article called "About inactive account deletion", but we could not read its text, so we do not quote a number.

Neither document describes a memorial status or any special handling after an owner dies. Deleting an account, the privacy policy says, does not affect the copies other people already have, such as the messages you sent them.

What the family can realistically work with:

• The phone itself. If someone can unlock it, the chats are there.
• The backup. The privacy policy names iCloud and Google Account as integrated backup services that receive your WhatsApp messages when you use them. Whether the family can reach that backup depends on Apple's or Google's own rules for a dead person's account.
• The other side of each chat. Friends and relatives still have their own copies of conversations.

X does have an inactive account policy. According to X's inactive account policy page, you should log in at least every 30 days to keep an account active, and accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity. The page gives no firm period, so it does not promise when or whether that happens. So you cannot count on an unused account disappearing on its own.

We found no memorial status on X. Unlike some other networks, X does not turn a profile into a remembrance page.

The steps, as that page describes them:

1. The family member or estate representative sends a request through X's form "Deactivate account for incapacitated or deceased person".
2. X replies by e-mail and asks for more details: information about the person who died, the requester's ID and the death certificate. The page says this step is there to prevent false and unauthorized reports.
3. X says it keeps this information confidential and removes it once the request has been reviewed.

What the family cannot get: the same page says X is unable to provide account access to anyone, whatever their relationship to the person who died. So there is no password, no login and no hand-over of the account.

The page also covers an incapacitated user. Removing that account needs a power of attorney.

The request form asks for your name and e-mail, your connection to the account owner, the username and the owner's full name. Have these ready before you start.

Under the Inactive Google Account Policy, a personal Google Account that has not been used for 2 years can be deleted, with all of its content and data. Google lists watching a YouTube video while signed in as one example of activity. Google also says it may delete data in a single product if you have not used that product for 2 years. Before deleting, Google sends notices to the account's email address and to the recovery email, if there is one.

There is one line that matters for creators. Google's 2023 post announcing the policy says: "we do not have plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time." The help page itself does not repeat this and does not list it among the exceptions. So we cannot tell you for certain that a channel with videos is safe from the 2 year rule.

The policy does not cover accounts set up for you by a work, school or other organization.

• "We cannot provide passwords or other login details."
• "If you select to close the Google account, Google is unable to process any request to turn over the contents of the account at a later date."

The form page does not mention YouTube. It does not say whether closing the account takes the channel down, or whether a data request includes the videos. If your family wants the videos, asking for data before closure is the safer order.

Through YouTube, for videos that show you. YouTube's privacy guidelines, on the page "Protecting your identity", say: "To respect the privacy and memory of deceased users, we consider requests from the closest family members or legal representatives upon verification of the individual's death." This goes through YouTube's privacy complaint process and is about content in which a person can be identified, such as a video someone else uploaded. YouTube says it weighs public interest, newsworthiness and consent, and whether a video shows a person's moment of death or critical injury.

Regional terms can say more. The Binance Australia Terms of Use (last updated 16 July 2026) ask the representatives of your estate to give written notice of your death as soon as practicable, and say Binance may suspend the account if it has reason to believe you have died. The account stays suspended until a representative provides legal documentation that they are entitled to the assets. Those terms apply to Australian users only.

The steps from that page:

1. The claimant creates their own Binance account first. The page says this is required.
2. They sign in, open Customer Support, click View All under Self Service, then Legacy Inheritance under Account.
3. They enter the deceased user's email, phone number or Binance ID (any one is enough) and attach the relevant documents.
4. They click Submit. A dedicated team reviews the claim.

Binance says the process usually takes around 1 to 2 months, and longer in complex cases. After the details are confirmed, the assets are transferred to the rightful beneficiary or trustee.

The global page does not list the documents. Binance Academy's article on passing on crypto says most exchanges ask for a death certificate and documentation showing authority to handle the estate. Local pages can be much more specific. Binance Japan, for example, asks for original documents such as the will or family register records and seal certificates, transfers to a single representative heir, and estimates about 2 to 3 weeks once everything has arrived. Under the Australian terms, a beneficiary who asks for a wire transfer receives the liquidated value of the assets, less fees, and Binance does not commit to a timeline.

Nothing on these pages says Binance gives out the password or lets anyone log in as the person who died. The route is a transfer of assets, not access to the account.

We could not read Bybit's Platform Terms and Conditions (see below), so we cannot say what they say about death or inactive accounts.

• The executor must have their own Bybit account and complete Bybit's identity verification (KYC), so Bybit can confirm who they are. Bybit says all assets in your account are transferred to the executor.
• The executor provides any necessary court orders and a death certificate to execute the will.
• The executor must have access to your email. Bybit says it sends messages confirming the details of your death to your registered email address, and the executor replies from that address.

Bybit says it will not take part in distributing the assets. The executor decides how they are shared, which is why the will must give the executor that authority. The page also warns that a defective will can obstruct the transfer.

The page does not say how a family should contact Bybit, what happens if there is no will, how long the transfer takes, or whether there are fees. Nothing on it says Bybit gives out the password or lets anyone sign in as the person who died.

If nobody ever comes forward, section 6.6 applies: when Coinbase holds funds and sees no access for several years, the law may require it to send them, or their dollar value, to the state as unclaimed property.

1. The death certificate.
2. Probate documents for the estate: Probate, Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, an Affidavit for Collection or a Small Estate Affidavit.
3. Photo ID: a current, valid government photo ID of the person or people named in the probate documents.
4. Instructions: a letter signed by the people named in the probate documents, telling Coinbase which account to transfer the assets to, including its email address.

The claimant signs in to their own Coinbase account, or creates one, opens the Executor Services form, uploads the documents, fills in the fields and selects Generate verification code. Once the request is verified, Coinbase says the case gets support.

The User Agreement adds that if no fiduciary was designated, Coinbase may treat as fiduciary anyone entitled to inherit the account, after reviewing documents such as a will, a living trust or a small estate affidavit. It may also ask for a court order naming a fiduciary, and it may do so as well if the designation looks uncertain.

Nothing in these pages offers the family the dead person's login. The assets move to a new account in the fiduciary's name.

Coinbase Wallet is different

Coinbase's help page on the wallet recovery phrase says the 12 word phrase is known only to the owner. Coinbase "will never ask for or have access to your recovery phrase", so it cannot move funds or help anyone reach them. Without the phrase, or the password to its encrypted backup, the family has no route through Coinbase at all.

The terms say a little more. The Kraken.com Global Terms of Service (last updated 30 October 2026) do not mention death at all. They do say that if you are inactive for a protracted period and Kraken cannot return your crypto or money to your designated financial account, it may have to report and hand them over under unclaimed property laws, and that those laws may require the crypto to be sold. The terms do not say how long a protracted period is.

For clients in the European Economic Area, the Kraken EEA Terms of Service (effective 14 October 2026) list the death of an individual client as an Event of Default. In that case Kraken may, without prior notice, suspend or close the account, hold or cancel transactions, and sell crypto held for the client to cover anything the client owes Kraken.

1. Death certificate: a complete colour image of the official document. Certificates issued by funeral homes are not accepted.
2. Legal documentation confirming the appointment as legal representative of the estate, such as probate or letters of administration.
3. Photo ID: a current, valid colour copy of a government photo ID for each person named as legal representative.
4. A signed and dated letter from the person or people named in the legal documentation, confirming that the account holder has died and identifying themselves as the legal representative.

Kraken says more documents may be required, and that it will say so after the claim is submitted.

To make the claim, the representative opens the Submit a claim form linked from that page, fills in the required fields as well as they can and attaches the documents. Kraken's Compliance team then handles the request.

The page does not say what happens to the assets after that: whether they are transferred as crypto, sold or paid out, how long it takes, or whether there is a fee. Nothing on it says Kraken gives out the password or lets anyone sign in as the person who died.

A separate service in the Global Terms, Kraken Legacy (Annex S), is for crypto held outside Kraken. A Kraken user with a verified account can submit seed phrases, private keys or hardware wallet backups. Kraken scans supported blockchains for assets and, if the user chooses, moves them into that user's Kraken account. The terms say Kraken does not check who legally owns those assets, and that someone who received this material as part of a deceased person's estate should confirm their legal entitlement first. Legacy is offered only where Kraken has made it available, and not in New York State. It needs your own Kraken account, and the Global Terms do not allow accounts for people located in or resident in sanctioned jurisdictions, a list that includes Russia and Belarus.

We tried to read PayPal's rules on inactive accounts and unclaimed money, but those pages loaded without their text for us. So we cannot tell you what happens to a balance that nobody claims, and we do not guess.

In the United States

The US page asks for:

1. A cover sheet that identifies the PayPal account by its primary email address and asks for it to be closed.
2. The requester's email address.
3. A copy of the death certificate.
4. The requester's government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport or state ID).
5. Legal documents, or a copy of the will, naming the executor. If there is no will, state-issued documents.
6. A W9 for the estate, which the page says can be obtained from the IRS website.

These go by email to [email protected], or by post to PayPal Inc., Attn: ICA, P.O. Box 45950, Omaha, NE 68145. PayPal says posted documents are destroyed after review.

The balance: PayPal says it does not change ownership of the funds. The requester can ask for a check in the name of the deceased account holder, or, if they have access to the bank account linked to PayPal, move the balance there.

In the United Kingdom

The UK page asks first for a cover sheet with the representative's name, email and phone number stating that the account holder has died, details that identify the account (email, phone, address), and the death certificate.

If there is money in the account, it also asks for a certified copy of the will (or a statement about the administrator and their relationship to the person who died), the representative's photo ID, a signed Standard Indemnity Form, written consent from everyone entitled to share the money, and instructions for what to do with it.

• Under £5,000: the indemnity form is enough.
• Above £5,000: a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is needed before the account is closed and the balance released.

PayPal UK can pay the balance to the linked bank account, to a PayPal account chosen by the executor, or by wire transfer. The page gives the email address [email protected] and the postal address 76 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PZ.

Nowhere does PayPal offer to hand over the login. The account is closed or locked, and the money goes where the estate's documents allow.

For one country we found a rule on accounts nobody claims. Revolut's document on dormant accounts for its French branch says that, under French law, the account of a customer who has died becomes dormant if no heir comes forward within 12 months. After 3 years the account is closed and the money goes to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, where heirs can still claim it for 27 years. We found no similar document for other countries.

The first email should give:

• the full legal name and date of birth of the person who died,
• the phone number and email address linked to their Revolut account,
• your full legal name, email address and relationship to them.

And these documents:

1. Your ID or passport, a clear photo or scan with all four corners visible.
2. A Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration, or another official document naming the heir or the person entitled to deal with the assets.
3. The death certificate. Depending on the country, Revolut says it may accept an interim death certificate, a coroner's certificate or an authorised translation of a foreign certificate.
4. The indemnity or bereavement form, signed by the rightful heir.
5. A power of attorney, for example when a solicitor claims the money for an heir.
6. Birth or marriage certificates, if needed to identify the claimant.

The bereavement form asks for the bank details of the account that should receive the money. Where probate is required, all executors sign it. By signing, the heirs let Revolut close the accounts, use the money to pay anything owed to Revolut and send the rest to the nominated account. They also promise to cover Revolut's losses if someone else later turns out to be entitled to a share.

Once Revolut has what it needs, the help page says it will:

• cancel all scheduled outgoing payments,
• cancel all paid services,
• terminate all Revolut cards,
• stop marketing and other communications,
• tell you what else is needed to settle the estate.

Stocks, precious metals and crypto are sold before the payout, and their value is credited to the main balance. The family receives money, not the assets themselves.

Revolut says it should be in touch within 15 days. Paying out the balance and closing the account can take from a few days to a year, depending on the case and any court proceedings. Nowhere does Revolut offer access to the app or the login.

We found nothing on what Wise does with a balance that nobody claims, so we do not guess.

Documents go to [email protected]. Someone who has a Wise account can also upload them through a secure link on Wise's site. Wise asks for:

1. The death certificate, as a scan or clear image. Wise says interim certificates, or certificates of fact of death issued by funeral homes, may be accepted if they are valid under local law.
2. ID for every executor or next of kin, both sides where the ID has two.
3. With a will: a copy of the will or official proof of the executor's appointment, all pages.
4. Without a will: proof of relationship, such as a birth or marriage certificate, under the intestacy law of the country where the person lived.
5. If several people share authority: a power of attorney to one of them, or Wise's Authorisation Letter signed by all of them.

Solicitors, attorneys and notaries follow a separate guidelines page and send a sealed or stamped letter on their firm's letterhead, or Wise's authorisation form.

The refund. Wise pays the money to the next of kin or the executor, using a Refund and Closure form for the region (Europe, New Zealand, USA or everywhere else). Depending on the country's succession law, Wise may ask for a finalised grant of probate, letters of administration or the local equivalent. Wise says this document is needed only at the refund stage, and that it may ask for an apostille if the document comes from a different country than the one in the person's registered address.

The refund form we read says that by signing it, the executor lets Wise:

• sell any investments held in Assets and move the money to the Wise account,
• use that money to pay any outstanding fees or negative balances,
• send the final balance to the nominated account and deactivate the profile.

The money can go only to an account in the name of an appointed executor, to a client account of a law firm or attorney, or to an estate account. The person who signs promises to cover Wise against any later claims on the estate. When several heirs use the authorisation letter, Wise makes a single refund to the one they chose, who then divides it under the will or the law.

For a business account, the new director sends the death certificate, ID and proof that they are now a director or shareholder. Wise says it will not disclose information about the business but will help transfer ownership.

Nowhere does Wise offer access to the login or the app.

Amazon says that even if you cannot provide everything, the bereavement team can still help with three things:

• ending subscriptions,
• stopping recurring deliveries,
• deactivating the account.

For these, email the team with the death certificate and the email address or phone number linked to the account. In the US the address is [email protected]. In the UK it is [email protected].

With the legal documents

To get account information, close the account or change anything without access to it, Amazon asks for:

1. A copy of the death certificate.
2. Proof that you are the legal representative of the estate, such as probate or executor documents.
3. A valid photo ID of that person (passport, driving licence or ID card).
4. The email address or phone number linked to the Amazon account.

If nobody knows the email, Amazon says an order number or a charge ID can help it find the account. These are printed on parcels, order confirmation emails and bank statements. Amazon says the documents are deleted after they are checked.

The page also says that if you have access to the account's email or phone, you can sign in and manage or close the account yourself, or reset the password. If you do, save photos and invoices first and close the account only. Do not place orders or spend a balance, which belongs to the estate.

What closing the account removes

Amazon's page "What Happens When I Close My Account?" is blunt: closure applies on every Amazon site worldwide and cannot be undone. Among the things that go with it:

• order history and invoices (useful for warranties and for the estate's paperwork),
• the gift card balance,
• Prime membership,
• Prime Video purchases, Amazon Music, Audible credits and audiobooks,
• Amazon Photos and everything stored in it,
• Kindle books, subscriptions, notes and highlights,
• Alexa data and voice recordings.

Amazon recommends downloading uploaded content, such as Amazon Photos, and any invoices you need before closing. For a family this is the key point: save the photos first, then close.

As for books, films and music, the Kindle Store Terms of Use say Kindle content is "licensed, not sold" and may not be assigned to anyone else unless specifically indicated. We found no Amazon page that describes passing a digital library to heirs.

The help page says to use the Cancel Membership link on the Account page, and you can also choose sign out of all devices. Netflix's general page on cancelling adds that access continues until the end of the current billing period.

If you cannot open the account

Gather two things about the account holder, then contact Netflix through its help centre:

1. The email address or phone number linked to the Netflix account.
2. The full payment information currently used to pay for Netflix.

The page does not mention a death certificate or any other document. It also says nothing about refunds.

Before you cancel: move the profiles you want to keep

If family members watched on the same account, they may want to keep their own history and lists. Netflix's profile transfer lets "the Netflix member and people using the member's account" copy a profile to a new or existing account, with its recommendations, viewing history, My List, game saves and settings. Payment details do not move.

The conditions matter here: the account must be active, and Kids profiles, profiles locked with a PIN and profiles with their own email address cannot be moved. So do this before the membership ends.

After cancelling

Netflix's page on cancelling says it keeps viewing activity, recommendations, ratings, account details and game saves for 24 months after the account closes, so they are there again if the membership is restarted within that time. The same page suggests changing the password and signing out of all devices, so nobody in the household restarts it by accident.

Spotify's page "How to cancel Premium plans" says Premium continues until the next billing date, then the account switches to free. The playlists and saved music stay, and the account can still be used with ads. The page links a cancellation form as well as the usual cancel button in the account.

We found no Spotify page about a death, and its contact page needs a login. Without the password, all a family can do is try Spotify support and ask.

If the person ran a Family plan

This is where it gets awkward. The Family plan page says the plan manager is "the only person who signs up and pays for the plan", and can add or remove members. The cancel page tells members to "reach out to the plan manager to cancel or update the payment method". If the manager cancels, members lose their Premium benefits from the next payment date.

We found no page about a plan manager who has died, and no way to hand the manager role to someone else.

Closing the account

The page "Closing your account and deleting your data" says Spotify emails a reactivation link that works for 7 days. After that the account cannot be restored and data deletion begins. Purchased audiobooks and tickets for future live events are lost. If the family wants to keep the person's playlists, closing is the step to leave until last, or to skip: cancelling Premium alone keeps them.

What the agreement does say, in section 1.C, is that your account is strictly personal. You may not sell it, charge others for using it or otherwise transfer it, and you may not reveal or share your password or account with others except as specifically authorized by Valve. It also says subscriptions are not transferable, and that funds added to the Steam Wallet are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Steam's page on merging accounts adds that game subscriptions and CD keys cannot be moved between Steam accounts.

What does exist is account deletion. According to "Account Deletion: Common Questions":

• Steam Support deletes an account on request, but only after comprehensive proof of ownership.
• The account is then restricted for 30 days while it waits for deletion.
• Deletion is permanent. Game licences, the community profile, gifts, inventory items and wallet funds are deleted and cannot be recovered.
• Some content stays: discussion posts, content posted in community hubs and comments left on other profiles.
• Anything you want from the profile, such as screenshots or artwork, has to be saved before the request.

"Providing Proof of Ownership" explains that proof means payment information previously used on the account (for a card: card type, name on the card, billing address and the last four digits) or retail product codes activated on it. The page is written for account owners, not heirs, and we could not confirm that Steam accepts this proof from a relative.

Nothing on these pages says Steam will hand the account, the games or the wallet balance to someone else.