Tutorial on how to delete all information on Google servers that was backed up from your Android phone

[Arlen Holder]

Someone asked here how to delete backup data, which deserves its own thread
o As always, please add value either by testing or updating the steps below

I haven't yet written the tutorial, but this thread is a good place for it,
once we get a few people testing it out. (I don't even have a Google
Account set up on my Android phone, although I do have Google accounts).

Here's what I "think" is the answer to the question of deleting all the
data that Google has which was backed up from your Android phone.

There is likely more (much more perhaps), such as geolocation data, and web
receipt data, and google search data, etc., but we have to start somewhere.

o *How do I cleanup all information backed up from my phone?*
<https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/69391/how-do-i-cleanup-all-information-backed-up-from-my-phone>
"I want to remove all information, that was backed up from my phone to the
Google servers (sync data, etc). How can I do that?"

First answer:
"Google Dashboard
<https://myaccount.google.com/intro/dashboard>
Go to Google Dashboard and sign in with the same Google account
you used on your phone.
Click the arrow next to Android to see a list of all your devices
with backup data. At the bottom is a button, Delete backup data.
This button deletes the backed-up data from all devices.
There's no way to delete the data from a specific device.

If you want to delete not only the data backed up using the
"Back up my data to Google servers" option, but also other synced data
like Gmail, contacts, calendars, Google Docs documents, you'll find
them listed in their own sections on the same dashboard page."

Second answer:
"Delete Device History
<https://history.google.com/history/device>
To delete the stuff backed up under Settings -> Backup & reset like saved
contacts, the list of installed apps, saved WiFi networks, etc.
Go to Device History and select and delete the backups you want to
remove. Or you can use the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner
to view more Delete options to delete all backups.

Delete Saved App Data
<http://drive.google.com/>
Some apps will save data to your Google Drive account.
To remove these, go to Google Drive and click the settings gear icon in
the upper-right. Select Settings and then Manage Apps.
From there you can view the list of connected apps, including ones
installed on your phone and disconnect them and/or delete
any data stored by them."

If you have a Google account, can someone test these instructions for us?
o That way we learn from each other.

[Arlen Holder]

Once you delete all the data stored on Android servers...
o The next step is making sure it doesn't go _back_ on Google servers!

Can folks test this out?
o I have a Google Account but I don't have a Google Account on my phone.

o How to turn off Google Sync on an Android device
<https://www.companionlink.com/support/kb/How_to_turn_off_Google_Sync_on_an_Android_device>

1. Settings > Accounts
This may variously show up, depending on the Android version, as:
o Accounts
o Accounts and Backup
o Accounts & Sync
o Data Synchronization
o Cloud and Accounts
o (any others?)

2. Tap "Accounts" or select the Google account name if it appears directly.

3. Select "Sync Account" after selecting Google from the accounts list.

4. Tap "Sync Contacts" to disable the Contact sync with Google servers.

5. Tap "Sync Calendar" to disable the Calendar sync with Google servers.

[Arlen Holder]

Once you delete your Google saved data and stop syncing to Google servers
o The next step is to completely banish Google from your unrooted Android!

I've started a thread on banishing Google from unrooted Android over here:
o List of one-to-one replacement freeware for each of the current score of Android Google apps
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/IPorNMcyP3g>

As a starter, this seems like a decent article for older Android phones:
o Feb 2019: Completely Banish Google from Your Android Experience
<https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/completely-banish-google-from-your-android-experience-0162547/>

Which they say they've updated for the newer (2020+) Android phones:
o Mar 2020: Use Android Without Any Google Apps or Services
<https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/use-android-without-any-google-apps-services-0193735/>

I post this so that purposefully helpful folks will test & report back what
they can so that, as always, we all benefit from every action you take.
--
I'll try to test every suggestion that is feasible in those two articles.

[Arlen Holder]

Update

These two recent posts from Frank Slootweg are useful for the tutorial
(just in case you banish Google but then reconsider later)
o <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/1etkkYKuGUo/m/RmhQ-6geAgAJ>
o <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/qTMDmHP9ToI/m/RcfoEqkeAgAJ>

Here are those two useful hints from Frank Slootweg (verbatim):

HINT 1:
"Your data is in your Google Drive.
In the web-interface, click on the 'Storage' icon in the left pane
and then on 'Backups' in the upper right.
Then right-click on the backups you want to delete.
Direct URL: <https://drive.google.com/drive/backups>

HINT 2:
"Google has recently (some months ago?) informed its users
- well, it at least informed me - to set up a
'Plan what happens to your data if you can't use your Google Account
anymore'. It's actually a quite elaborate facility which accounts
for all kinds of contingencies.

Have a look at the 'Inactive Account Manager' in your account.
<https://myaccount.google.com/inactive>

(You get there from the main page -> 'Data & Personalisation' ->
'Download, delete or make a plan for your data' ->
'Make a plan for your account')"

[Arlen Holder]

Update... from Big Al today (verbatim) from this thread
o Google Photos will end its free unlimited storage on June 1st, 2021
<https://groups.google.com/g/misc.phone.mobile.iphone/c/OCpy0JQSdVk>

-- verbatim from Big Al below --
How-to-Geek had an interesting article today about how to download ALL of
your google info. It was specifically talking about your google
photos, but you can also download a bunch of other things. Email happened
to be another.

takeout.google.com

But here's the link.
https://www.howtogeek.com/695839/how-to-export-your-google-photos-library/

I downloaded all of my google photos in a zip file. I don't have many and
it didn't take but 3-4 minutes. You get an email with a link to
download the zip when it's done.

Al