Google reveals the shutdown date for Google+ and when your data will be deleted

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We've known for several weeks now that Google+ is to close down, and Google has even brought forward the shutdown date. Now the company has revealed details of the timeline for the closure.

As of next week -- February 4 specifically -- it will no longer be possible to create a Google+ account, and commenting options will be removed in March. When April rolls around, Google+ will not only close down, but data associated with consumer accounts will start to be deleted.

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There are different timetables in place for different types of Google+ user, but they are broken down into three categories: consumers, G Suite users and admins, and developers using Google+ APIs. Consumers are by far the largest group, and if you are a user, you'll need to take action if you want to safeguard content you have uploaded to Google+.

Announcing the official shutdown date for the first time, Google says:

Starting April 2, 2019, we will shut down your Google+ account and any pages you created, and we'll begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. If you have Google+ content that you would like to save, you must do so before April 2nd.

If you want to download your data for posterity, Google has provided instructions about how to do so.

But you'll notice changes prior to the shutdown in April. The closure of the Google+ APIs has already started, and Google warns that "developers may notice intermittent API failures leading up to March 7, 2019, when APIs will be fully shutdown".

Photo credit:  Twin Design / Shutterstock

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