Proton doubles free-account inactivity window from 12 to 24 months (Nov 2026)

What changed

Proton lengthened the inactivity window in its Terms of Service for free accounts.

Change 1: 12 months becomes 24

Four sentences in the inactive-accounts section moved from twelve/12 months to twenty-four/24 months. Proton may still suspend or delete a free account, and some or all of its data (Proton Mail emails, Proton Drive files, Proton Calendar entries, Proton Pass passwords), but only after two years of no activity instead of one. The same login actions still count as activity: signing in on the web, desktop or mobile apps. Paid accounts under an active subscription are still always treated as active, and dropping to free (by canceling or a failed payment) puts the account back under this rule.

What stays the same

The Oct 20, 2026 rewrite still stands: advance warnings at 30, 15 and 7 days are only "a mere courtesy" Proton will "aim" to send to the recovery email. That did not get any firmer today. There is also no new effective-date stamp on the page in our snapshot; the wording is live in today's capture.

Leftover inconsistency

One sentence further down still says that if "insurmountable circumstances" keep you from staying active "in a period of 12 months," you should contact Customer Support so they can prevent deletion. The main rule above it now says 24 months. We are logging the wording as it appears; the support-request line looks like it was not updated with the rest.

How it compares

This is a rare consumer-friendly terms edit. Most inactivity policies we track tighten or add "courtesy" language. Proton already had the courtesy-only warnings; today it gave free users another year of runway.

Coverage (checked Nov 6, 2026): QuietlyChanged; we have not seen a Proton blog post announcing the 12→24 change yet.

Who it affects

Anyone with a free Proton Mail, Drive, Calendar or Pass account they rarely open, especially backup or secondary accounts

Quick answers

Does Proton delete inactive free accounts?

Yes. As of the Nov 6, 2026 snapshot of Proton's Terms of Service (Section 3), a free account inactive for 24 months in a row can be suspended or deleted, along with some or all of its data: Proton Mail emails, Proton Drive files, Proton Calendar entries and Proton Pass passwords. That window was 12 months in our Nov 5 snapshot.

Will I get a warning before deletion?

Proton says it will "aim" to send notices 30, 15 and 7 days ahead to the recovery email, "as a mere courtesy." That language has been in place since Oct 20, 2026; it is not a hard promise.

Do paid Proton accounts get deleted for inactivity?

No. Accounts with an active paid subscription "are always considered active." If the paid plan ends or payment fails and the account falls back to free, the 24-month inactivity rule applies again.

Source

Detected on the Proton terms page: https://proton.me/legal/terms. Always check the source; this summary is not legal or financial advice.

· · ·We reserve the right to limit service capacity for Accounts which use of resources (e.g. bandwidth) is excessive and hurts the user experiences of other users in an unfair way.The Company reserves the right to suspend or delete Accounts that have been inactive for a consecutive period of twelve months. For more information, we invite you to read ourThe Company reserves the right to suspend or delete Accounts that have been inactive for a consecutive period of twenty-four months. For more information, we invite you to read ourinactive account policy· · ·3. Inactive AccountsThe Company reserves the right to suspend or delete free Accounts that have been inactive for a consecutive period of 12 months and/or part or all of their associated data and content according to this section.The Company reserves the right to suspend or delete free Accounts that have been inactive for a consecutive period of 24 months and/or part or all of their associated data and content according to this section.If you have been inactive on your free Account for a consecutive period of12 months or more24 months or more, access to your Account and all or part of the data associated with your Account (including but not limited to emails stored in Proton Mail, files stored on Proton Drive, calendar entries in Proton Calendar and passwords in Proton Pass) may be deleted. As a mere courtesy, the Company will aim to send notice to the recovery email associated with your Account 30, 15 and 7 days in advance before such action is taken.Accounts under an active paid subscription are always considered active and no action will be taken against your paid Account under this section. Terminating your active paid subscription (or being downgraded to free due to a failure to pay for the subscription) will make your Account subject to this section again.If your account is free, you are considered active by performing one of the following actions at least once in a period of 12 months:If your account is free, you are considered active by performing one of the following actions at least once in a period of 24 months:logging in to your Account on our web, desktop or mobile apps; or

Provenance: detected in our Nov 6 snapshot of the Proton terms page, compared against Nov 5.

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