PRACTICAL GUIDE · OCTOBER 2026

What happens to your online accounts after death?

Accounts do not all follow the same rule. Provider processes and your preparations influence what happens next.

Preserving data and closing accounts differ

A family may want photographs or documents while also stopping account activity. Identify the intended outcome before submitting a request. Google's help explains that closing an account prevents a later request to obtain its contents. Read the official process before choosing an action.

Prepare while you can decide

Review Apple's Legacy Contact and Google's Inactive Account Manager through their official guidance. Explain each contact's role and where instructions are kept. An inactivity setting is not a death certificate; a general contact list does not automatically authorize release.

Reduce the unknowns

Keep a non-secret service inventory with provider names, the desired outcome and the official access route. Include subscriptions and business responsibilities when relevant. Do not encourage someone to impersonate you or bypass verification. Review the inventory when accounts or circumstances change.

A small next step

Record the desired outcome for each service.
Set up available provider tools.
Tell contacts how to locate instructions.
Review official requirements before requesting closure.

Where Digital Keep fits

Digital Keep's invitation-only beta lets you try private notes, documents and explicit read-only sharing with fictional information. Adding a person does not grant access; you choose sharing separately. Automatic death verification and inheritance delivery are not active. Digital Keep does not replace provider tools or legal advice.

Do not upload passwords, seed phrases, bank credentials or irreplaceable data during the beta. Read the security boundaries and keep independent copies.

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