How to Close a Deceased Person's Email and Social Media Accounts

Managing a deceased person's digital presence — their email, social media, and online accounts — is one of the newer and often emotionally complex aspects of settling an estate. Some families want accounts memorialized; others want them closed entirely. Either way, leaving accounts open and unmonitored is an identity theft risk. Here's a platform-by-platform guide.

Why This Matters

Active but unmonitored accounts create several risks:

Email accounts contain a treasure trove of personal data — account credentials, financial information, personal communications — that identity thieves can exploit through phishing and account recovery exploits
Social media accounts can be hacked and used to scam the deceased's contacts ("my family is stranded and needs money")
Email accounts are typically linked to password reset flows for dozens of other accounts — control of the email can mean control of everything
Active streaming, shopping, or subscription accounts continue to charge the estate

Email Accounts

Gmail (Google)

Google offers two paths for a deceased person's account:

Account closure: An authorized representative can request account deletion through Google's deceased user request form (search "Google inactive account manager" or "Google deceased account"). Google will verify your identity and authority before proceeding.
Data download: Google's process allows authorized family members to request data from the account before closure, subject to verification.

Google also has an Inactive Account Manager feature that the account holder can set up during their lifetime — naming a trusted person to receive data or delete the account after a period of inactivity.

Microsoft / Outlook / Hotmail

Microsoft allows next-of-kin to close a deceased user's Microsoft account. Contact Microsoft Support and provide a death certificate and your relationship documentation. Note that Microsoft generally will not grant access to the contents of a deceased person's account, but will close it upon proper request.

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail accounts can be closed through Yahoo's account termination process. Yahoo does not grant access to the account to third parties but will close it. Contact Yahoo Support with documentation.

Social Media Platforms

Facebook / Instagram (Meta)

Meta offers two options for deceased users:

Memorialization: The account is converted to a memorial account where friends can post remembrances. The word "Remembering" appears before the person's name. The account remains but cannot be logged into. Request through Meta's Special Request for Deceased Person's Account form.
Removal: Family members and executors can request complete account deletion. Requires documentation of death and relationship.

Legacy contacts can be designated by the account holder during their lifetime to manage a memorialized account.

Instagram

Instagram (also Meta) follows a similar process — memorialization or removal. Use the Report a Deceased Person's Account form in the Help Center.

X (formerly Twitter)

X allows immediate family members or an authorized estate representative to deactivate a deceased user's account. Submit a request through X's Help Center with a death certificate and your identification. X does not offer memorialization.

LinkedIn will remove a deceased member's profile. Report through the LinkedIn Deceased Member form. Provide the deceased's profile URL, date of death, and your relationship.

TikTok

TikTok will deactivate a deceased person's account upon request from an immediate family member. Contact TikTok Support with a death certificate and documentation of your relationship.

Snapchat

Snapchat will delete a deceased person's account. Contact Snapchat Support through their Help Center with documentation.

The Access Problem

Most platforms will close accounts upon request from authorized family members or representatives — but very few will grant access (login credentials or data) without the account holder having explicitly authorized this during their lifetime. This means:

If the deceased wanted a family member to have access to their email or social media, they needed to plan for it — by sharing passwords, using a password manager, or using platform features like Google's Inactive Account Manager or Facebook's Legacy Contact
If no advance planning was done, the family may be limited to closing the account without ever accessing its contents
Courts in some states have ordered platforms to provide access to executors — this is slow and expensive, but an option for estates where access to the contents is critical (e.g., a business account)

Handling Login Credentials

If you do have access to the deceased's email password (or can reset it using a phone number you have access to), proceed carefully:

Forward or save any important emails before closing the account
Use the email access to identify and begin closing linked accounts (subscriptions, financial accounts, etc.)
Do not access accounts in a way that would violate the platform's terms of service or federal computer fraud laws (unauthorized access to another person's account can create legal issues even for family members)

For a complete approach to protecting the deceased's identity online, see our guide to protecting online financial accounts and our complete identity theft prevention guide.