So I’ve been trying to get away from Google services but I’m stuck with one big problem. My Gmail address is connected to literally everything - social media accounts, work stuff, banking, you name it. I can’t just switch to a new email because that would be a nightmare to update everywhere.
I want to completely delete my Google account but I need my email to keep working. Is this even possible? I’ve already gotten rid of all other Google services and this Gmail thing is the last hurdle. Really hoping someone has figured out a way to do this without losing access to my email address entirely.
Yeah, Google’s got you trapped here by design. Your Gmail address IS your Google account - delete the account and you lose the email forever. I hit this same problem two years ago when I was trying to ditch Google. Here’s what I did: kept a bare-bones Google account just for Gmail and nuked everything else I could. Turned off location tracking, wiped my YouTube history, killed Google Assistant - basically gutted it down to just email. Not perfect since you’re still using Google, but it’s a decent compromise while you slowly move your important stuff to a new email provider.
yeah, impossible unfortunately. gmail IS your Google account - you can’t separate them. I created a ProtonMail account and switched my important stuff first - banks, work, etc. then handled the less important things over time. it’s annoying but there’s no way around it if you wanna ditch google completely.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to delete your Google account while keeping your Gmail address. The Gmail service is directly tied to your Google account. I faced a similar issue previously and had to transition to a new email provider. I set up forwarding from my Gmail to the new address to ease the process, but it required updating my accounts gradually. While it’s tedious, it’s the only way forward. For future reference, consider using a personal domain to have more control over your email.