Last October, Google announced plans to shutdown Google+ for consumers after a security flaw exposed users’ profile data. Shortly after, Google+ had another data leak, prompting Google to fast-track the shutdown for its social network, moving the deadline up four months to April 2019. Now, Google has
formally released the timeline for how and when Google+ will go away.
As early as
February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages,
communities, or events. Comments generated by Google+ on external websites will
be removed from Blogger by February 4th and from other sites by March 7th. All
your website comments made using Google+ will be deleted starting on April 2nd.
On April
2nd, all consumer Google+ content will be deleted (other than Google notes,
content that it’s required to keep for legal reasons). This includes photos and
videos from Google+ in your Album Archive as well as Google+ pages.
If you want
to grab your Google+ data before it’s wiped away, we’ve got step-by-step
instructions on how to create and download an archive; you can also go to Google’s support page
for information. Photos and videos backed up to Google Photos are safe and will
not be deleted.
If you have
used Google+ to sign into sites and apps, those buttons will stop working soon,
but in some cases will be replaced by a Google sign-in button. In these
instances, you’ll be able to sign in with your Google account in lieu of
Google+.
Google says
it will take some time to delete all Google+ data, so portions of your account might
still be visible over the next few months. Access to other Google services will
not be impacted as part of the Google+ shutdown. If you are a G Suite customer,
Google+ for your G Suite account will remain untouched, but expect a
new look and additional features soon.
These
deadlines are coming up fast, so if you have vested interest in preserving your
Google+ history, act now before it disappears forever.
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