How to remove Google + from your Google Account

Google+ is the second largest social network in the world in terms of active users yet many people don’t use it as much as they spend their time using Facebook or Twitter. Although. you can stop using the service any time you want, it seems rather taxing that your Google+ profile is automatically created upon signing up for a new account. We all know that the social network is merely the web giant’s attempt to capture another bit of information about you, and possibly help bolster its advertising business and make more money. So here’s the cure: you can always delete your Google+ profile while keeping your other Google services and apps intact. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to do that.

First off, sign in to your Google account by visiting the site, and click your profile icon at the top right. This will pop up a small window with a link to your profile and options to sign out,  manage privacy, as well as your account settings page. Simply click ‘Account’ on this pop up to proceed.

The next page carries many different options and settings related to your Google profile, all of which are split under different tabs. The one we’re hunting for in this tutorial resides under ‘Data tools’, so simply click this link as demonstrated in the screenshot below.

The ‘Data tools’ tab houses further options regarding managing your account, for instance, it lets you download data related to your account, or access other pertaining information. Locate ‘Account management’ section and click the ‘Delete Google+ profile and features’ link next to it.

This in turn will open up the delete confirmation page. You’ll be given the option to remove what’s known as your Google Profile.  But before you proceed with removing the account from Google’s servers for good, it’s worth reading the page for information regarding what type of data will be deleted and other details.  If you often comment on YouTube videos, for instance, then deleting your Google+ profile might affect your account since YouTube now uses your Google+ profile to let you interact and post comments. Likewise, it may affect other similar account information, but everything related to your Gmail account will remain unaffected.

After going through all the information, you can scroll down, put a checkmark on ‘Required’ (and optionally on ‘Also unfollow me from anyone I am following in other Google products’), and click ‘Remove selected services’ to remove your Google+ profile.