How to delete your old email address without losing everything

This article has been updated

I had an experience that made me realize that the future was both amazing and ridiculous: a Peruvian teenager stole my Netflix account. I only knew about this when my wife called and complained that she could not log in to my streaming account. When I applied for a new password, I found that my email address had been changed. This means that the kid not only stole my Netflix, disrupted my algorithm, but also hacked into the email address associated with my account.

That email address is an old email address I had when I was in high school. This reminds me: Can I be sure this is just a small-scale intrusion, not a major security issue? The hacker may be using my mailbox for other evil purposes. I decided to be cautious and deleted my entire email address.

Although my intuition is right, I act impulsively. Since I didn't take some simple steps before clicking to delete, the bad situation turned out to be a thousand times worse. Here are my lessons so you can avoid making the same mistakes.

Why you may need to delete your old email account

Email address is a weak link in network security. Many of the actions you perform online are associated with one of your accounts. So if hackers are able to hack your mailbox, they can quickly access your photo storage, social media, shopping, games, streaming and other accounts. After all, if you forget the password for one of the websites, just click "Forgot Password?" and the service will send it to your hacked inbox.

Even if you trust your provider, your mailbox may be more vulnerable than you think. My old email address happens to be Yahoo Email. In the past few years, Yahoo Email has suffered multiple high-profile leaks, which have leaked the personal data of millions of people in total. But I still keep it: Since it's my email address for over a decade, it's still the login credentials for me to do almost everything online (from e-commerce to Netflix).

What's worse is that many people use the same few bad passwords for multiple accounts. If you use the same password for your email and any other account, even if the combination of letters and numbers looks difficult to crack in high school, it is easy for hackers to find it.

[Related: You should start using password manager]

One way to solve this problem is to delete your old email address. Of course, this is not the only way; you can also change your password and enable two-factor authentication. However, if you don't use that email account (as in my case), or you're planning to phase it out, then deletion is the best option.

That is, when I deleted my old account without planning, it quickly turned into a nightmare: I lost access to almost all of my accounts. While many web services have planned for such unexpected situations, some of my online life is lost forever. Here's how to do it in a wise way when deleting a hacked mailbox.

Find out the content associated with the old email address

Before deleting an old email address, please list services that rely on it as login credentials—social media, games, video streaming, etc. After creating an account list, find its policy to change the mailbox. For example, some websites will send you verification links immediately after you enter your password and new email address. Other websites may require you to call and provide some kind of identity that they have archived, such as a credit card or driver's license.

According to experience, the higher the security level of a website, the more bureaucratic obstacles you need to overcome. This is a good thing because it helps prevent identity fraud.

This is also a good time to clean up an online account that you do not use. I ended up deleting several old shopping site accounts because changing my email address is more troublesome than my membership. Again, I don't think many of the web commentator accounts I created in high school are worth keeping.

For additional protection, change your passwords during operation and install a custodian to remember them. The digital password manager saved me on several occasions; this means that even though I don't have an email, I can still keep all my passwords at any time. The custodian program can also generate a different secure password for each website, so you won't reuse the same phrase again.

[Related: How to Get Started with Password Manager]

Lastly, enable multifactor authentication as much as possible, also known as two-factor authentication or 2FA. 2FA is equivalent to requiring two types of proof of identity. For example, if you forget your password, you may need to answer security questions and reply to text messages using your phone. Enabling 2FA means that I have a way to get into my account even if my mailbox is expired.

Download your data from an email account that you do not use

Your inbox may contain attachments you want to keep—such as important financial documents and family photos. All major mailbox providers provide a tool to collect your mail, although it can take several days to organize a complete archive. For example, Google provides a tool called Takeout that allows you to take everything away.

After you have done this, you should also download the full contact list so that you can import it to your new email address later. Most mailbox programs allow you to download contacts as comma-separated values ​​(CSV) files that you can then upload to another account. That is, these tools usually only collect email addresses that you officially add to the address book, so if you rely on autofill, or have been talking to Aunt Cheryl for ten years through the same email thread, some addresses may Unable to port.

Don't hesitate to use the old-fashioned method. I managed to keep in touch with some of my friends in college because, luckily, I still have their email address on the piece of paper. I recommend a nice address book; it's cleaner.

Select a new email provider

Usually, we choose email service based on convenience. If you purchased an Android phone, you may prefer Gmail because everything is associated with that account. However, if you are concerned about Google's policies, you don't have to go back.

Secure mailbox services like Tutanota (which uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that only you and your friends can see your mail) are becoming more and more popular. Another good option is Hey. These providers usually offer free or very cheap personal plans, usually around $1 to $3 a month, although Hey is $99 a year. What if none of these attract you? Build your own server.

After selecting a service, it's time to choose a new email address. Make it reflect your old email address so that people who know you only can find you through that email. For example, my "new" email address is really just my old email address on a different website (Gmail instead of Yahoo!). Especially for friends you meet primarily online, your old email address is probably the only place they find you – changing it to something similar can help you keep those connections.

When a new mailbox is up and running, import those old contacts and send them an introductory email to inform them of the changes. Or, if you don't mind keeping your old mailbox for about a month, use it to set up a "Out-to-Reply" automatic message. This should tell the contacts when you plan to close this account and the new address they can contact you.

Delete old email account

Finally, you are ready to close your old mailbox. How do you do it? The exact steps depend on the provider.

For Gmail accounts, go to Google's "Delete Services" page, which may require you to log in. Then click the trash can icon next to Gmail; Google will guide you through the next steps.

For Yahoo, follow these instructions and take these steps to delete your Microsoft email address. However, for these providers, you cannot delete individual services such as mailboxes separately. Instead, you must delete the entire account, including any other subscriptions and ongoing services you may want to keep, such as Skype. It's up to you to decide whether or not to think that trade-off is worth it.

This article was first published in 2018

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