Platform Guides

Step-by-step instructions for setting up legacy, memorialization, and inactive account features on the major platforms.

Google — Inactive Account Manager

Google's tool is one of the most comprehensive. It covers Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, YouTube, and most other Google services.

What It Does

How to Set It Up

  1. Go to myaccount.google.com/inactive
  2. Click "Start"
  3. Choose how long to wait before your account becomes inactive (we recommend 12 months)
  4. Add phone number and email for Google to contact you before anything happens
  5. Add trusted contacts (name, email, phone) — these people will be notified and can request your data
  6. Choose what data each contact can access (or give them everything)
  7. Decide whether to delete your Google account after data is shared
  8. Click "Confirm" and review your settings
Tip: Tell your trusted contacts that you've named them. They'll receive an email confirming their role, but it's better if they know in advance.

What Your Contacts Get

After the waiting period, your trusted contacts can download a copy of your data from Google Takeout. This includes emails, photos, documents, and YouTube videos. They do not get ongoing access to your account — just a one-time download.

Apple — Legacy Contact

Apple's Legacy Contact feature lets you designate someone who can access your iCloud data after your death. Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

What It Covers

What it does NOT cover: Licensed media (movies, music, books), in-app purchases, payment information, or passwords and passkeys stored in iCloud Keychain.

More than one Legacy Contact? Any one of them can act alone, including permanently deleting your account. Choose accordingly.

How to Set It Up (iPhone / iPad)

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap your name at the top (Apple ID)
  3. Tap Sign-In & Security
  4. Tap Legacy Contact
  5. Tap Add Legacy Contact
  6. Choose from your contacts or enter manually
  7. Apple will generate an access key — this is critical
  8. Share the access key with your legacy contact (print it, message it, or save it where they'll find it)
Critical: The access key is required. Without it, even with a death certificate, your legacy contact cannot access your data. Make sure they have it and know what it's for.

How Your Contact Accesses Data

  1. They go to digital-legacy.apple.com
  2. Upload your death certificate
  3. Enter the access key you gave them
  4. Apple reviews the request (usually takes a few days)
  5. If approved, they get a special Apple ID to access your data for 3 years

Facebook — Memorialization Settings

Facebook lets you choose whether your account becomes a memorial page or is permanently deleted. You can also name a legacy contact to manage the memorialized page.

How to Set It Up

  1. Click your profile picture (top right) → Settings & Privacy → Settings
  2. Click Memorialization Settings (in the left menu, under "Account")
  3. Choose:
    • Memorialize my account — profile stays visible as a remembrance; friends can post memories
    • Delete my account — permanently removed after Facebook receives proof of death
  4. If you choose memorialization, you can name a legacy contact who can:
    • Write a pinned post on your profile
    • Respond to friend requests
    • Update your profile picture and cover photo
    • Download a copy of what you shared (if you allow it)
  5. They cannot log in as you, read messages, or remove friends
Tip: If you choose memorialization, consider writing a post now that your legacy contact can pin later — a final message to friends and family.

Microsoft — The Hardest Case

Microsoft is now the hardest major platform for families to deal with after a death. There is no general family-access process: Microsoft will not release account contents to next of kin, even with a death certificate and estate documents.

The Reality (Updated September 2026)

One Narrow Exception: OneDrive Digital Legacy

Microsoft now offers a OneDrive Digital legacy feature. If you set it up in advance, your designated person can receive read-only access to your OneDrive files and photos after your death.

Understand the boundary: it covers OneDrive only. It does not cover Outlook email, Xbox, Microsoft Store purchases, Copilot history, or the rest of your Microsoft account.

How to Set It Up

  1. Sign in at onedrive.com and go to Settings → Digital legacy
  2. Invite your trusted contact by email. They need their own Microsoft account to accept.
  3. You'll get a code that never changes and never expires. Write it into your will, or give it to your lawyer or executor.
  4. After your death, your contact enters the code and waits 72 hours, then gets read-only access to your files and photos.

Learn more →

Plan on credentials, not a process. For anything Microsoft, your executor needs your actual login credentials — via your password manager's emergency access or your documented master password. Set up OneDrive Digital legacy as a backup for files specifically, but treat credential access as the only reliable plan for the account as a whole.

X (Twitter) — Deactivate Only

X's policies around deceased accounts have changed repeatedly and unpredictably under current ownership. We do not recommend relying on any legacy or memorialization feature.

Our Recommendation

How to Download Your Archive

  1. Go to Settings → Your Account → Download an archive of your data
  2. Request the download (it may take 24+ hours to prepare)
  3. Save the resulting file with your other estate documents

Other Platforms

LinkedIn

Family members can request account closure or memorialization by contacting LinkedIn support with a death certificate. No proactive setup available. Learn more →

Instagram

Owned by Meta (same as Facebook). Memorialization works similarly — family can submit a request with proof of death. No proactive legacy contact feature. Learn more →

Amazon

No legacy feature. Your executor can close the account by contacting Amazon customer service with a death certificate. Kindle books and digital purchases are generally not transferable.

PayPal

Executors can close the account and request a check for any remaining balance by submitting a death certificate and proof of authority. Contact PayPal customer service.

Netflix, Spotify, Hulu

No legacy features. These are subscription services — your executor should cancel them to stop billing. They may need access to the associated email to reset passwords if they don't have credentials.