How to Leave a Digital Legacy: Accounts, Photos, and Passwords for Your Family

Plan what happens to your accounts, photos, and passwords. Apple Legacy Contact, Google Inactive Account Manager, and a simple checklist.

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How to Leave a Digital Legacy: Accounts, Photos, and Passwords for Your Family

We spend years bui‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍lding a digital life — photos stored in the cloud, email accounts full of memories, social media profiles, financial accounts, and subscriptions. But most people have never thought about what happens to all of it when they're gone.

Planning your digital legacy is a practical act of kindness toward the people you'll leave behind. It takes a few hours and can save your family weeks of confusion and heartache.

What Is a Digital Legacy?

Your digital legacy includes everything that exists online or on your devices:

Photos and videos stored on your phone, computer, or in the cloud (iCloud, Google Photos)
Email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo)
Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
Financial accounts (online banking, investment accounts, PayPal, Venmo)
Subscriptions (Netflix, Amazon Prime, streaming services)
Digital purchases (ebooks, music, apps)
Passwords for all of the above

Without clear instructions, family members may be unable to access important accounts — or spend months trying to track down and close them.

Step 1: Create a Password Document

The most important thing you can do is write down your key passwords somewhere your family can find them.

This doesn't need to be complicated:

Use a notebook dedicated to this purpose
Or a document saved on your computer with a clearly labeled file name
List your most important accounts: email, Apple ID or Google account, bank, social media

Keep it secure. Store a printed copy in a sealed envelope with your important documents (will, insurance papers). Tell a trusted family member where it is — but don't leave it somewhere easily visible to visitors.

Step 2: Set Up Apple Legacy Contact or Google Inactive Account Manager

Both Apple and Google have built-in tools specifically for this purpose.

Apple Legacy Contact

Apple's Legacy Contact lets you designate someone who can access your iPhone data and iCloud account after you pass away.

How to set it up:

Open Settings on your iPhone
Tap your name at the top
Tap Sign-In & Security
Tap Legacy Contact
Tap Add Legacy Contact and choose someone you trust
They'll receive a special access key — keep it with your important documents

Google Inactive Account Manager

Google lets you specify what happens to your Gmail, Google Photos, and other Google data if your account becomes inactive.

How to set it up:

Go to myaccount.google.com
Click Data & Privacy
Scroll to More options and click Make a plan for your account
Follow the steps to designate a trusted contact and choose what they can access

Step 3: Decide What to Do With Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms have different policies for accounts after death.

Facebook

You can memorialize your account, which turns it into a place for people to share memories
You can designate a legacy contact who can manage the memorialized account
Or you can request that the account be permanently deleted after you pass
To set this up: Facebook Settings → Personal Information → Account Ownership and Control

Instagram

Family members can request memorialization or deletion with proof of death
There is currently no legacy contact option on Instagram

Step 4: Make a List of Subscriptions to Cancel

Many families discover ongoing charges on a loved one's credit card months after their passing. Leave a list of your active subscriptions:

Streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+)
News and magazine subscriptions
Cloud storage (iCloud, Google One)
Software (Microsoft 365, antivirus)
Any autopay bills

Include the email address associated with each account and where to find the cancellation setting.

Step 5: Tell Someone Where Everything Is

All of this planning is only useful if someone knows it exists. Have a conversation with a trusted family member or your estate attorney about:

Where your password document or notebook is kept
Where your Legacy Contact access key is stored
What your wishes are for your social media accounts
Which email account is most important (usually the one linked to everything else)

A Simple Digital Legacy Checklist

Written list of important accounts and passwords stored securely
Apple Legacy Contact set up (iPhone users)
Google Inactive Account Manager configured (Gmail/Android users)
Facebook legacy contact or deletion preference set
List of subscriptions prepared
Trusted family member informed of where everything is

This isn't morbid planning — it's a gift. Families who have this information say it made one of the hardest times in their lives a little bit easier.