You should log into any old Google account you wish to maintain if you haven't used it in a few years to avoid having it deleted due to Google's inactive account policy. Google revealed the new guidelines in May, stating that account deletions would start as early as December 2023. Since then, Google has begun notifying impacted users through email that their accounts may be deleted starting in the first week of December.
To be clear, Google has not stated that it will delete all eligible accounts from the first of December.The company intends to proceed in stages, "beginning with accounts that were created and never used again." However, now appears to be as good a time as any to ensure that your old accounts are in order so that you don't risk losing important data.
For a Google Account to remain active for an additional two years, it is often sufficient to simply sign in. Google adds that actions that fall under its policy regarding inactive accounts include sending or receiving emails, using Google Drive, viewing YouTube content, downloading apps from the Google Play Store, searching the Google Play Store, and signing in with Google to access third-party services.
It's a good idea to confirm that the email address linked to your account is accessible after you log in. This is due to Google's announcement that it will notify affected users of an upcoming deletion through several notifications sent to both their recovery email addresses and affected Google accounts.
If you want to prevent the deletion of any content stored in Google Photos, you'll need to sign in separately, but logging in to your Google account should be sufficient to stop it from being deleted altogether for two years. According to a 2020 policy, the search giant "reserves the right to delete data in a product if you are inactive in that product for at least two years." Nevertheless, neither accounts with active subscriptions linked to them nor accounts with YouTube videos will be deleted.
Google stated that it modified its policies for security reasons when it announced the new guidelines in May, pointing out that inactive and outdated accounts are more likely to be compromised. Ruth Kricheli, vice president of product management at Google, stated in the company blog that "forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user.”