How to Prepare Your Digital Life for Your Death

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: In this world, nothing is certain except death and the internet.

Everyone has a digital footprint that doesn’t expire when you do. Thankfully, more platforms are jumping on the grim reaper’s bandwagon, giving family, friends, and legal professionals access to your various online accounts. Here’s how to make sure loved ones can manage your posthumous affairs. Think of it as a Handbook for the Recently Deceased’s Digital Affairs.

Password Manager Emergency Access

Bitwarden Emergency Access
(Credit: Bitwarden)

We all know not to reuse passwords across internet accounts, and to secure those passcodes with a top-rated password manager, but does this secure solution block access for loved ones after you pass? Not if you set up emergency access or account sharing before your demise. Nine of our favorite password managers offer some digital legacy options. Check out three options below, and get the full rundown here.

• Bitwarden Emergency Access: A rare 5-star PCMag pick, Bitwarden lets users designate and manage trusted contacts who can request access to their vault(Opens in a new window), if necessary. A three-step process requires subscribers to invite a user, who must accept the invitation, and be confirmed by the original requester. There is a caveat, though: Only premium users—including those of paid organizations (Families, Teams, Enterprise)—can designate emergency contacts (who, in turn, must have a Bitwarden account). There’s no limit to the number of trusted emergency contacts one user can have, though.

• Dashlane: Another PCMag Editors’ Choice pick, Dashlane lets you create a secure Dash file(Opens in a new window) that you can share immediately with a trusted contact or save on a USB drive to be turned over in the event of your death. You’ll create a password for this file that’s separate from your master password. Dashlane recommends creating a Secure Note(Opens in a new window). Note that this file won’t update automatically, so you’ll need to create and export a new Dash file every time you update logins or other info.

• 1Password: While 1Password doesn’t offer a specific mechanism for passing on your account to heirs, its Families Plan does make it easier to share confidential information(Opens in a new window) with chosen confidants. To invite folks into your vaults—home to personal logins, secure notes(Opens in a new window), credit cards, passwords, etc.—navigate to the sidebar and click Vaults > Share Vault, then enter the email address or name of a new or existing family member. Repeat until you’ve admitted every person on your list. New additions must accept their invitation and be confirmed before gaining access; existing folks can view and edit items immediately.

Save grieving loved ones the hassle of creating an online shrine by choosing to memorialize your Facebook profile. That way, people can leave messages on your profile, but you won’t appear in suggestions for who to follow or in birthday reminders.

Facebook legacy contact
(Credit: Meta/PCMag)

Memorialized accounts are managed by a Legacy Contact(Opens in a new window): someone you choose to look after your records—writing pinned posts, responding to friend requests, updating profile and cover photos.

Visit Settings > Personal details > Account ownership and control to get started. Choose Memorialization to select someone who will have control over some parts of your account after you pass away. After that person reports your death to Facebook(Opens in a new window) and the social network officially memorializes your profile, they’ll be able to(Opens in a new window) manage friend requests and the things people post to your profile. They won’t get access to your messages or be able to delete or request friends.

You can also ask Facebook to just delete your account when you die.

Instagram

The same does not apply to parent company Meta’s other social network. Instagram offers no pre-death preparations. Instead, people must request the conservation or removal(Opens in a new window) of a deceased person’s account. To request memorialization, Instagram requires proof of death, like a link to an obituary or news article. Login information is not provided for a memorialized account.

Verified family members, on the other hand, need proof of an immediate connection (via birth or death certificate, or evidence you’re the lawful representative of them or their estate) to remove the person’s Instagram account entirely. Fill out an online form with the full name and Instagram username of the deceased, date of their passing, and your uploaded documentation.

Twitter

If your loved one is still tweeting when they die, it’s up to you to deactivate their account. Like Instagram, Twitter accepts requests only from verified immediate family members or people “authorized to act on behalf of the estate”—titles that require the submission of details like a personal ID and copy of the deceased’s death certificate. “This is a necessary step to prevent false and/or unauthorized reports,” Twitter’s Help Center says(Opens in a new window). No one, regardless of their relationship to the deceased, may gain account access.

(Credit: Twitter)

It’s unclear how quickly Twitter is responding to requests these days. The social network is short-staffed after Elon Musk shed 80% of his roughly 7,500-member workforce.

Last month, Musk said Twitter would purge accounts that had been inactive for several years, but no other details have been announced. The company tried a similar move in 2019 under former CEO Jack Dorsey, but it ultimately pressed pause on that effort after it was revealed the company didn’t consider the accounts of deceased members (including celebrities).

You don’t have to wait until death to expunge your Twitter history: Learn How to Delete Twitter (and Your Terrible Tweets).

Google Inactive Account Manager

Google is prepared for your eventual death, even if you’re not. Its Inactive Account Manager(Opens in a new window) lets you share portions of your data, or automatically notify someone if you’ve been “inactive”—not signing in, not racking up usual activity, not using mobile apps—for a certain period of time.

I set mine to three months, but you can wait longer: six, 12, or 18. One month before my 90 days ends, Google will text and email to confirm I no longer use the account.

(Credit: Google)

Unless I respond to retain my email address and saved Maps locations, up to 10 listed confidants will be notified and gain access to personal information, including contacts, chats, photos, notes, phone audio, purchases, tasks, and more, which may be downloaded within three months.

(Credit: Google)

Gmail users can also set an auto-reply message letting folks know they’re no longer using that account. (Imagine being informed of someone’s death through an auto-reply email.)

If that all sounds like too much hassle (or if you don’t trust any of your family or friends with private YouTube videos), let Google erase your digital existence after your desired time period.

Apple offers a Digital Legacy program that lets you designate Legacy Contacts(Opens in a new window) who can access your account in the event of death.

(Credit: Apple)

Anyone running iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS 12.1 or above, with two-factor authentication activated, can give trusted contacts access to data stored in an Apple account, including photos, messages, notes, files, apps, and device backups. Certain information—like movies, music, books, and subscriptions purchased with Apple ID or payment info, passwords, and passkeys stored in Keychain—are not accessible to Legacy Contacts.

On an iPhone or iPad, navigate to Settings > [your name] > Password & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. On Mac, click the Apple menu and select System Preferences > Apple ID > Password & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. 

Choose someone from your Family Sharing group if you have that set up or select Choose Someone Else to pick someone from your Contacts using their phone number or email address.

This will produce an access key that you’ll share with your Legacy Contact. They’ll need that access key and your death certificate to request access after you pass away, set up a legacy contact Apple ID, and access your data.

For Legacy Contacts with newer Apple devices, you can send a copy of the access key via Messages, and it will be stored in their Apple ID settings. If they don’t have an Apple device, you’ll need to send them a PDF or screenshot or print it out. Your Legacy Contact will have access to your account for three years, but they can delete it before that.

Share Multi-Factor Authentication Methods

You followed everyone’s advice and set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible, making it harder for anyone to hack into your accounts. Good work. But now you’re gone and no one can so much as check your Twitter notifications.

On the one hand, it’s best to lock down your online presence. On the other, it complicates after-death responsibilities if people can’t authenticate your accounts. Save your loved ones some hassle by generating MFA backup codes and saving them securely.

It’s also not a bad idea to make a list of MFA methods you use (SMS, authentication app, security keys) and share device passcodes with a trusted person (most phones require a passcode to be entered after a certain number of hours or following a restart, so biometrics may not be enough).

Digital Will

Don’t leave the fate of your online existence to the whims of ever-changing website guidelines. Create one document explaining what to do with social media, e-commerce, cloud storage, streaming, email, and fintech accounts; how to gain access to password-protected platforms; and who should inherit your cryptocurrency piggy bank. We’ve got the pros and cons of writing your will online, along with some recommendations for services that can help.