Apple's Legacy Contact and Google's Inactive Account Manager let people you choose reach parts of your account after death or long inactivity. Neither covers everything. Apple excludes Keychain passwords and passkeys, and purchased media. A short written plan fills the gaps.
Apple Legacy Contact
A Legacy Contact is someone you designate to access certain data in your Apple Account after you die. They do not need an Apple Account or device to be chosen. You can add more than one, and each can make decisions about your data individually, including permanently deleting it.
What they can reach: photos, messages, notes, files and device backups. What they cannot: movies, music, books and subscriptions bought with your Apple Account, and iCloud Keychain data such as payment information, passwords and passkeys.
To request access they need the access key you generated and a death certificate. Apple notes requirements vary by country. Confirm your contact actually received the key and keep a backup copy.
Google Inactive Account Manager
This feature shares data or sends a notice if your account is inactive for a period you choose. Google looks at signals such as sign ins, recent activity, Gmail use and Android check ins.
You can name up to 10 trusted contacts and share different data types with each. Contacts receive nothing during setup, only after the inactivity period ends. Contacts verify with a phone number before downloading.
If you have no plan, Google may delete an account inactive across Google for at least two years. That also removes linked products, and the Gmail username cannot be reused.
What both leave out
- Password manager vaults
- Bank and brokerage logins
- Carrier account and phone number
- Hardware security keys and recovery codes
- Business accounts and company systems
Company systems belong to your employer, so use the corporate process, not a personal plan.
A short plan
- Pick a person. Often a spouse, partner or adult relative, plus a backup.
- Set the platform features above for each ecosystem you use.
- Write an emergency sheet. It should say where your password manager lives and how to unlock it, where spare security keys are, and who your lawyer is. Do not write the master passphrase on the sheet unless the sheet is stored with your will.
- Store it properly. A fireproof box or your lawyer's file, not an unlocked note on your phone.
- Review each year. Contacts change, phones change.
Some password managers offer their own emergency access feature. We have not verified features for any specific product, so check your manager's help pages.
Mind the conflict with privacy
Naming someone who can read your messages is a real choice. Choose by what you would want your family to see, and limit Google sharing to the data types that matter.
For stronger encryption trade offs, see Advanced Data Protection, since recovery keys feed this plan.
Quick check
Can an Apple Legacy Contact see my saved passwords?
No. Apple says iCloud Keychain data, including passwords and passkeys, is not accessible to a Legacy Contact.
Does Google delete inactive accounts?
It may, if an account with no plan is inactive across Google for at least two years.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
