Closing digital accounts: email, social media, and subscriptions
How to memorialize, close, or take over the digital footprint of someone who has died.
6 min read
Digital accounts can be a source of both meaningful memories and ongoing financial drain. Each major provider has its own process for handling a deceased user’s account, and the Federal Trade Commission urges families to act early to reduce identity theft risk (Federal Trade Commission [FTC], 2023).
Memorializing or closing social accounts
Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow either memorialization or removal of a deceased user’s profile, on receipt of a death certificate or other proof. A previously designated legacy contact, where supported, can manage memorialized profiles without accessing the password.
Email and cloud storage
Google’s Inactive Account Manager and Apple’s Digital Legacy program let users designate someone in advance to receive their data. Without prior designation, providers generally require a court order to release contents, although some allow account closure with a death certificate (Federal Trade Commission [FTC], 2023).
Subscriptions and recurring charges
Review the deceased person’s last few bank and credit card statements for recurring charges and cancel each one. Streaming, cloud storage, software, dating apps, and gym memberships often continue to bill quietly for months.
Make a digital cleanup list
NextStep helps you build a list of likely accounts to close and the right link or contact for each provider.