Google, Facebook & Apple: Setting Up Legacy Contacts Before You Die
Google, Facebook, and Apple all offer tools to designate who can access your data after you die. Most people never set them up. Here's a step-by-step guide for each platform.
Three of the most important repositories of your digital life — Google, Facebook, and Apple — all offer tools to designate who can access your accounts and data after you die. They're genuinely thoughtful features that can make an enormous difference for the people you love.
Here's the catch: almost nobody sets them up.
It takes less than 10 minutes for all three. This guide will walk you through exactly how to do it, right now.
Google: Inactive Account Manager
Google's Inactive Account Manager is the most powerful digital legacy tool offered by any major platform. It lets you decide what happens to all your Google data — Gmail, Drive, Photos, YouTube, Google Contacts, and more — if your account becomes inactive.
What It Does
- Lets you set a timeout period (3, 6, 12, or 18 months of inactivity) before Google considers you "gone"
- Sends you notifications and checks before acting — it won't assume you're dead just because you haven't logged in
- Lets you designate up to 10 trusted contacts who will be notified when your account becomes inactive
- Lets you specify exactly which Google products each contact can download data from
- Optionally deletes your account after a period you choose
Step-by-Step Setup
- Go to myaccount.google.com
- Click Data & Privacy in the left sidebar
- Scroll down to More options and click Make a plan for your digital legacy
- Click Start
- Set your inactivity period — 18 months is a good default for most people
- Add your trusted contacts with their email addresses and choose which Google products they can access
- Optionally set up account deletion after a period of your choosing
- Save your settings
Pro tip: Your trusted contacts will receive an email with instructions when the time comes. Make sure the contacts you add know they've been designated — otherwise they may be confused by the notification.
What Your Contacts Can Access
When your contact receives access, they can download your data from the products you've specified. This might include years of emails, your entire photo library, Google Drive files, and more. Be thoughtful about what you grant access to — you may want different contacts to access different products.
Facebook: Legacy Contact
Facebook's Legacy Contact feature has been available since 2015. It's the most-used digital legacy tool across all platforms, largely because Facebook has a massive user base that has had enough time to see the impact of accounts without a plan.
What It Does
- Lets you designate one person to manage your memorialized profile after you die
- Your Legacy Contact can write a pinned post on your timeline, update your profile photo and cover photo, and accept new friend requests
- They cannot read your private messages, remove friends or followers, or make purchases
- Alternatively, you can request that your account be permanently deleted after your death
Step-by-Step Setup
- Open Facebook and go to Settings & Privacy → Settings
- Click Memorialization Settings (search for it if you don't see it immediately)
- Under "Legacy Contact," click Add
- Search for the friend you want to designate
- Click Send to notify them, or just Save to set it without notifying them now
- Decide whether you want your account memorialized or deleted — select your preference
Note: Your Legacy Contact must be a Facebook friend. If the person you want to designate isn't on Facebook, consider whether another friend is appropriate, or rely on your broader digital estate plan to convey your wishes.
Instagram: Memorialization Request
Instagram (owned by Meta) handles memorialization differently from Facebook. There is no advance "legacy contact" designation on Instagram — instead, family members or close friends can submit a memorialization request after someone dies.
What You Can Do Now
Your best option is to document your wishes in your digital estate plan:
- Do you want your Instagram account memorialized or deleted?
- Are there specific posts or stories you'd want archived or deleted?
- Is there content you'd want your family to download before deletion?
Instagram does offer a separate tool where you can submit a special request to memorialize an account if you're an immediate family member, but this happens after the fact, not before.
Apple: Digital Legacy
Apple introduced the Digital Legacy feature in 2021 with iOS 15.2. It gives you the ability to designate up to five people — called Legacy Contacts — who can access your iCloud data after you die.
What Your Legacy Contacts Can Access
- Photos and videos in iCloud Photos
- Notes, messages (iMessage), and voicemails
- Mail and iCloud Drive files
- Device backups, health data, and wallet passes
- Not accessible: Purchased content (movies, music, apps — these are licensed, not owned), data in third-party apps, and your Apple ID password or payment information
Step-by-Step Setup (iPhone)
- Go to Settings → [Your Name]
- Tap Password & Security
- Tap Legacy Contact
- Tap Add Legacy Contact
- Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode
- Select a contact from your contacts list
- Choose whether to share the access key with them now via iMessage, or print/save it for later
- Repeat for up to 5 contacts
Important: Your Legacy Contact will need both their designation in the system and the access key you generate to request access after you die. Store this access key in your digital vault alongside your other estate planning information.
Step-by-Step Setup (Mac)
- Go to System Settings → [Your Name]
- Click Password & Security
- Click Legacy Contact and follow the same flow
After You Set These Up
Setting up these features is important — but don't stop there. Document what you've done in your digital estate plan so your family knows:
- That you've set up these features and where to find access information
- Who you've designated as contacts on each platform
- What platforms you use that don't have these features, and what your wishes are for those
- Where the Apple Digital Legacy access key is stored
Taking 10 minutes today to set up these legacy tools — and then documenting them properly in your digital vault — is one of the most impactful things you can do for your family.
In Case Shit Happens gives you a place to record all of this — which platforms you use, what legacy settings you've configured, and what your wishes are for the ones that don't have built-in tools. Create your digital vault today.