Hundreds of thousands of accounts on Google's long-suffering social media service, Google+, may have been affected by a security flaw, the company said Monday, exposing personal information such as names and email addresses.
In the wake of the accidental exposure, Google said it's planning to shut down Google+ for consumers. But that won't happen for roughly 10 months. If you're wondering whether you still have a Google+ account - and if so, how to delete it - you can follow these instructions.
One easy way to find out whether you're even on Google+ is to visit your Gmail inbox and click on your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. If it says "Google+ Profile," it's safe to assume you have a Google+ account tied to your general Google Account.
Click on "Google+ Profile." It'll bring you to your profile on the Google+ platform.
Then, click on "Settings." You'll find that in the left-hand column, above the links for "Send feedback" and "Help." Next, you'll see a bunch of settings that you can change.
Scroll all the way to the bottom. There, under the "Account" section, you'll find a link that says "Delete your Google+ profile." Click that.
Google will give you some information on the implications of what you're about to do. You can click on each category to expand it and get more details.
Here, Google confirms that by deleting your Plus profile, you're also deleting your account on Google+. Doing so won't delete your general Google account, nor will it delete any of your photos or contacts. But it will delete all "+1s" - the Google equivalent of a Facebook like - as well as any posts you've created on the platform.
At the bottom of the page, check the box next to "Required" to acknowledge that deleting your profile can't be undone, then click "Delete."
If all goes well, you should be seeing a confirmation screen and survey, which you can feel free to answer or ignore as you wish.
© The Washington Post 2018
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