Deleting a GMail account

[Badadio]

Hello,

Since I've had my Droid I have forwarded my school email address to my gmail address so that it pops up on my phone. A couple weeks ago, my school email system took on Google Apps and my school email became a gmail address on its own.

Now, I have two gmail accounts and I would like to remove the original one (since it takes longer to forward the phone). When I tried to do so it said that I have to reset the phone to "factory defaults" by going to Settings and then Privacy. When I went to do such a thing it gave me the following message:

This will erase all data from your phone, including:
-Your Google Account
-System and application data and settings
-Downloaded applications
It will not erase:
-Current system software and bundled applications
-SD card files, such as music or photos

I guess what I'm asking is, will resetting the phone to "factory defaults" erase all the apps I got off the market? What is the difference between downloaded and bundled apps?

 

[Badadio]

I did a forum search for "removing a gmail account" and all I found was a thread where the poster did not encounter the message I posted above.

 

[Vitticeps]

Unfortunately there is no workaround for this. You can remove secondary gmail accounts but not the primary. You will have to do a factory reset.

It's really not that bad though. The only thing that can't easily be restored is your text messages. There are apps to back up the text messages but it backs them up to a file, it doesn't make the available in the messaging app again. Your contacts will need to be imported to the new gmail account through the web interface though since contacts are stored in the google cloud, not just on the phone. You could have problems with paid apps as well. The apps are attached to a Gmail address/google checkout account (not sure if you can change the gmail account on google checkkout). So you might have to re-buy any paid apps. Otherwise the reset is fairly painless. I do recommend getting an app to backup your apps to make re-installation easier. I prefer astro file manager's backup since it's local on the SD card but there are other services that are web based like appbrain.

Then, of course, you'll have to change all your settings back to how you wanted them.

I'd say half an hour max.

 

[Badadio]

Unfortunately there is no workaround for this. You can remove secondary gmail accounts but not the primary. You will have to do a factory reset.

It's really not that bad though. The only thing that can't easily be restored is your text messages. There are apps to back up the text messages but it backs them up to a file, it doesn't make the available in the messaging app again. Your contacts will need to be imported to the new gmail account through the web interface though since contacts are stored in the google cloud, not just on the phone. You could have problems with paid apps as well. The apps are attached to a Gmail address/google checkout account (not sure if you can change the gmail account on google checkkout). So you might have to re-buy any paid apps. Otherwise the reset is fairly painless. I do recommend getting an app to backup your apps to make re-installation easier. I prefer astro file manager's backup since it's local on the SD card but there are other services that are web based like appbrain.

Then, of course, you'll have to change all your settings back to how you wanted them.

I'd say half an hour max.

Thanks for the response.

I don't have any paid apps, just free ones so will those just reappear? Also, I'm not following what will happen to my contacts. Will they come back or will they be erased, too?

 

[Vitticeps]

The apps will not come back automatically. You will have to download them all again. Now that I think about it, use appbrain to back them up (it's free). I'm not sure if other backup methods will support market updates if the gmail address has changed.

As for the contacts, they will be deleted. Normally this isn't an issue because after the reset most people still use the same gmail address. Since the contacts are synced to the gmail address and you are changing addresses, your contacts wont automatically come back.

It's easy to fix though. First go to your current gmail account on a computer, click on contacts then export. This will save them to a CSV file. Then open your school gmail on a computer and go to contacts there then find Import (on regular gmail it's the top right corner but google apps for education version are customized a bit so it could be somewhere else). From there select the CSV file. Now you will have all your contacts on both accounts so when you switch gmails on the phone it will have all of your contacts automatically (well, you did the work but the phone will download them all from the new gmail automatically).

Make sense?

 

[Badadio]

The apps will not come back automatically. You will have to download them all again. Now that I think about it, use appbrain to back them up (it's free). I'm not sure if other backup methods will support market updates if the gmail address has changed.

As for the contacts, they will be deleted. Normally this isn't an issue because after the reset most people still use the same gmail address. Since the contacts are synced to the gmail address and you are changing addresses, your contacts wont automatically come back.

It's easy to fix though. First go to your current gmail account on a computer, click on contacts then export. This will save them to a CSV file. Then open your school gmail on a computer and go to contacts there then find Import (on regular gmail it's the top right corner but google apps for education version are customized a bit so it could be somewhere else). From there select the CSV file. Now you will have all your contacts on both accounts so when you switch gmails on the phone it will have all of your contacts automatically (well, you did the work but the phone will download them all from the new gmail automatically).

Make sense?

Yup, just imported them to the school email. I am about to start the process now, will let you know how it goes. Thanks!

 

[Vitticeps]

No prob, good luck.

 

[Badadio]

Okay, something is up. I tried syncing my apps with appbrain and it requires a google account but, for some reason, it doesn't recognize my school email as an account. Is there any way around that?

 

[Badadio]

This is particularly worrisome because what happens if the school email is not recognized as a legit Google account when I reset the whole thing?

 

[Vitticeps]

Hmmm... not sure on that one.

It'd be time consuming depending on how many you had installed but you could log back in to appbrain with the other gmail address and see the list of apps you had installed then manually install them from the phone.

 

[Badadio]

Yeah but if my school email isn't recognized as a legit google ID then it would all be done for naught. I guess my other options at this point are:

1. Delete the school email account and just live with the delay.

2. Keep both and just get two notifications for each email.

Unless there is a way I can turn off the email notifications for the old one alone?

 

[Badadio]

Any suggestions?

 

[Vitticeps]

I'm not understanding why you're getting two notifications for each email?

You have your school email forwarded to your other gmail and you have the school email set up as well?

Why not just turn off the forwarding?

Or am I missing something?

 

[Badadio]

Sorry, it's a little bit confusing.

Back when I first got my Droid I created a Gmail account and forwarded my school email to that account and, thus, be forwarded to my phone.

Then, when my school's email "merged" with Gmail I just added that school account to my Droid and so the emails were received in real time.

I just deleted the newer, real time account from my Droid but I wish there was an easy way to make that new one my primary address and just rid myself of the old one entirely.

 

[Vitticeps]

Is your school address an @gmail.com address or is it a @schoolname.edu address?

I would think any @gmail.com address would work as the primary. If it's an .edu account then it's just not possible on android. Android requires a gmail.com address.