Email and collaboration
What happens to your data when you cancel Google Workspace
On an email-verified subscription, choosing Delete users' data deletes user data in My Drive and organization data in shared drives. Deletion can take up to 90 days, and users cannot access Drive during that period. You can add a new subscription within 51 days of canceling. Otherwise you wait until after 84 days, when the cancellation process finishes.
| Rule | What changes |
|---|---|
| When you stop paying | Delete users' data and Let users keep their data are different endings. |
| Deletion events | 2 events. See the timeline below. |
| Deletion window | The delete path, while Drive stays closed to users. |
| Export | 7 steps. See the steps below. |
| Who can export | A super administrator with 2-Step Verification on. Every super administrator can open the archive. |
| What the export requires | The full export runs in every Google Workspace edition. |
What Google Workspace does when you stop paying
The cancel article gives an email-verified subscription two choices, and only one of them deletes files. Delete users' data is the deletion path. The other choice is Let users keep their data and delete my organization's account. It converts user accounts into unmanaged consumer accounts and deletes shared drives. Those consumer accounts are not the organization export. The later dates are for adding a subscription again. They are not the day the files vanish. Choose before you confirm the cancellation. Google explains cancellation in Cancel Google Workspace. For the chat, wiki, and notes tools, read what happens to company data when you cancel software. Canceling the mail suite during a closure is one piece of how to wind down a company.
Deletion timeline for Google Workspace
| Event | After | What the vendor says |
|---|---|---|
| Email-verified subscription, Delete users' data | 90 days | All user data in My Drive and organization data in shared drives will be deleted. Deletion can take up to 90 days, and users cannot access Drive during this period. |
| Resubscribe window after cancellation | 51 days | You can add a new subscription within 51 days of canceling. Otherwise you wait until after 84 days, when the cancellation process finishes. |
See Google Workspace in the deletion-window dataset beside the other systems.
Export your Google Workspace data before you cancel
Start the export before you cancel. Core service data such as Gmail, Drive, and Chat is left out if the subscription is already canceled or suspended. The archive is not ready in the first 48 hours. Accounts created in the 24 hours before the export starts are left out, and deleted data is left out unless Google Vault retained it. Download the zip files before the Google-provided bucket deletes them.
The cross-vendor checklist is what to do before canceling software when closing a business.
In the Google Admin console, open Menu, then Data, then Data import & export, then Data export. You must be a super administrator.
In the Google Admin console, open Menu, then Data, then Data import & export, then Data export. You must be a super administrator.Click Set up new export.
Click Set up new export.Enter a name for the export.
Enter a name for the export.In Scope, choose Export all user data for the entire organization, or export specific users.
In Scope, choose Export all user data for the entire organization, or export specific users.Click Start export. The archive is available no earlier than 48 hours after the export starts.
Click Start export. The archive is available no earlier than 48 hours after the export starts.When it finishes, open Data export, select the export, and click Actions, then View Archive.
When it finishes, open Data export, select the export, and click Actions, then View Archive.Download the zip files from the Cloud Storage archive before the Google-provided bucket deletes them.
Download the zip files from the Cloud Storage archive before the Google-provided bucket deletes them.
Who can run the export
The person who clicks Start export has to be a Google Workspace or Cloud Identity super administrator. The account must be at least 30 days old, unless the whole organizational account is newer than that. 2-Step Verification has to be on for that admin even when it is not required for everyone else. Every super administrator can open a finished archive. A delegated admin who is not a super administrator cannot start this export.
What to keep from Google Workspace
Google Workspace holds the company's mail, shared-drive files, and calendar events as one organization's record of how work moved. A licensed copy keeps those objects and drops the personal identifiers around them. Rooms the organization created can stay with the mail. A consumer Gmail account created by the keep-data choice is outside this export. The list below is what can stay. Names, emails, phone numbers, and the other items that follow are removed before any copy is shared.
- Gmail messages
- Drive and shared-drive files
- Calendar events
- Chat messages in rooms the organization created
Removed before sharing:
- Names, emails and phone numbers
- Customer and staff details
- Passwords and legal files
Read what data is shared when licensing company data before you decide which of the items below can stay.
Plan-specific caveats
Canceling first drops Gmail, Drive, and Chat from the file. Run the export while the subscription is still active, and download the zip files when it finishes. Leave enough time to download the archive before you turn renewal off. A delegated admin cannot start the export in place of a super administrator.
What a licensing program can use from email and collaboration
A licensing program can keep mail, calendar events, and shared documents as the record of how work moved between teams.
Other tools use a different admin export. Read what happens to your data when a Microsoft 365 subscription expires, what happens to your Zoho Workplace data when you cancel, and what happens to your Slack messages when you stop paying.
Google Workspace is named on software and SaaS company data for AI research, professional services company data for AI research, healthcare company data for AI research, education company data for AI research, logistics company data for AI research, and retail company data for AI research.
Related
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- How it works
The six steps from a short enquiry to payment, and how to stop.
Questions about Google Workspace cancellation
Do we need a paid Google Workspace plan to export everything?
The full-export steps are available in all Google Workspace editions. A Google-provided Cloud Storage bucket deletes the exported data 60 days from the beginning of the export. The tool does not export accounts created within 24 hours before the export starts, and it does not export deleted data unless Google Vault retained it.
Which super administrator can start the Data Export tool?
A Google Workspace or Cloud Identity super administrator has to click Start export. That account has to be at least 30 days old, unless the whole organizational account is newer than that. 2-Step Verification has to be on for that admin even when everyone else is exempt. Every super administrator can open a finished archive. A delegated admin cannot start the export.
What does Let users keep their data do in Google Workspace?
Let users keep their data and delete my organization's account converts user accounts to unmanaged consumer accounts and deletes shared drives. Those consumer accounts are not the organization export. Shared drives are deleted rather than moved with the people. Choose that path only when they should keep a personal account, and confirm the choice before you finish the cancellation. Delete users' data is the other button on that screen.
What happens to Gmail, Drive, and Chat if we cancel before the Google export?
They are left out. Core service data such as Gmail, Drive, and Chat is excluded if the subscription is already canceled or suspended. Start the export while the subscription is still active, and download the zip files when it finishes. Canceling first is the step that drops those services from the file. A super administrator has to be the person who starts the export.
Sources
- Google Workspace Help. Cancel Google Workspace. Checked 2026-11-04
- Google Workspace Help. Export all your organization's data. Checked 2026-11-04