So you ’re fed up with Google , and you ’ve got a litany of reason . More now than ever . You do n’t even have to explain — we’re just here to help you creep out from under the shadow of the big gram , step by step .
https://gizmodo.com/googles-broken-promise-the-end-of-dont-be-evil-5878987
The decision to close your Google account has to be cautiously considered — after all , this is the place that stores your e-mail , your document , your contacts , your photos , your news , and even your health records . But this level of investment to one Robert William Service is as good a reason to leave as it is to continue : If looking at yourGoogle Dashboard , which number all the services you use , and the amount and character of info you store on them , does n’t make you feel a petty restless , then hell , what would ?
Anyway , we ’re not here to make the suit for you to drop Google altogether — it ’s not something I ’m devise to do , for a start — I’m just here to tell you how to do it . Here ’s everything you need to know about life after Google .
Search
It ’s easy to bury that there are other hunt locomotive in the world , because Google has been so plainly predominant over the last few years . But they ’re there , and they ’re really fairly good .
The unspoilt option to Google , by a prospicient shot , is Microsoft ’s Bing . It ’s an organic evolution of the resilient search engine , and it ’s offers a clearly different experience than Google : it ’s far from minimalist , with a colorful interface , contentedness - tailored result page , and and vehemence on reducing clicks , rather than concentrate clutter . get along from Google it can be visually jarring , and the fact that the results for vulgar searches are different — if not practiced or spoiled — means that at first , you ’ll get the feeling that it is n’t ferment right .
Give it some clip and some solitaire , and you ’ll take in that it ’s pretty bloody good . Some bits are actually good , like image hunting . And even if search is n’t perceived as the biggest threat to your privacy , it ’s important to make the switch anyway — after all , it was Google hunting that was the gateway to all the other Google services , which you ’re now trying untangle yourself from .
Honorable Mentions :
•Yahoo
•Wolfram Alpha
•Collecta
•Mahalo
Back when it plunge in 2005 , Gmail lured user with insane amounts of free storage space : One GB . Impossible . This caught the dominant services of the day completely off sentry duty , and made their free webmail seem utterly ancient .
Today , that one gigabyte has develop to nearly seven , and on the Earth’s surface not much has changed about ol’ Gmail . Meanwhile , the companies that were blindsided back in 2005 have had wad of metre to charm up to , and in some cases , exceed Google ’s offering . Here ’s how to make the full switch :
Backing up your Gmail : There are a number of mode to do this , but one brook out as the easiest : The electronic mail node method .
1 . ) Download Thunderbird , a destitute email client from the same citizenry who make Firefox ( Download for Windows , OS X )
2 . ) Enable IMAP access on your Gmail report , by get across the set liaison in the top right of your inbox , navigating to the Forwarding and POP / IMAP tab , and pick out the “ Enable IMAP ” radio clit
3 . ) File > New Mail Account
4 . ) Enter your name and Gmail address , after which Thunderbird should discover your mail configurations automatically , and coiffe itself up as an IMAP customer :
( If this does n’t happen , consult Google’sguidefor a manual frame-up .
5 . ) Once the report is set up , open Thunderbird ’s Account options panel , and navigate to the Synchronization and Storage tab . verify “ Keep subject matter for this account on this reckoner ” and “ Synchronize all messages regardless of geezerhood ” are both selected .
6 . ) expect for your messages to sync to your computing equipment — this could take hour , especially if you ’re near your Gmail memory board bound .
What you ’ve done here is imported all of your Gmail messages into a local client — Thunderbird — which lets you browse them , search them , or back them up to an external unvoiced drive for descendants . And if you interchange to another IMAP - base military service , you may import these old messages into your unexampled report just by dragging them from your Gmail inbox folder in Thunderbird to your new report ’s inbox leaflet .
Contacts are a trickier question , but at the very least you’re able to use Gmail ’s contact exporting pecker ( under your Gmail inbox folder listing ) to make a CSV file or or VCard , for import into a client like Thunderbird .
The in effect alternative service : As long as it ’s been since Gmail showed up on the scene , the webmail scene has n’t seen many exciting newfangled players — Google has a knack of preempt fresh rivalry when it move into a ware family . So , for the good remaining alternative is a authentic oldie : Yahoo ring mail . take the fact :
• It ’s still barren
• It offer unlimited storage
• POP access code is available in the free version , and witha footling fiddling , so is IMAP access code
• spare text messages in sealed countries
• The port does n’t look like it was design in 1999 , like certain other webmail clients .
Calendar
Exporting your Google calendars : This one ’s easy . Just :
1 . ) Navigate to your GCal setting Sir Frederick Handley Page , and select the Calendars tag .
2 . ) Export calendars to an ICS single file , like so :
3 . ) That ’s it !
The best alternative : Yahoo calendar is fine , but in the spirit of diffuse your vital information around , countenance ’s go withWindows resilient Calendar . One you ’ve created a springy ID — you moderately much take one of these today — you’re mechanically given a resilient Calendar account . To import your Google Calendars , just do the pursuit :
1 . ) Open Live Calendar
3 . ) spell the ICS file you exported from Gmail , like this :
Photos
Not that many hoi polloi apply Picasa , so this one should be easy . Plus , there are some obviously superior alternative .
•Flickrdoesn’t blockade at being a great picture share-out internet site , it ’s also an amazing resourcefulness for photographers , both expert and amateur . Storage is limited with a monthly upload pileus .
•Photobucketis a dewy-eyed verandah divine service , with an emphasis on sharing over archiving . storehouse is limited to 1 GB .
•Shutterflyis another topnotch - wide-eyed military service , with straight-out storage ( Google does n’t even offer that for free )
•Facebookshouldn’t be counted out — its photo compression may be aggressive , but it does allow you to upload and tag a well-nigh unlimited number of pic .
Documents
A lot of people discover themselves using Google Docs because it ’s just so damn convenient — you get a text file in your Gmail account , and suddenly , hey , it ’s in the Google Docs table service ! That ’s how they get you . And interestingly enough , despite Google ’s learning of Writely and subsequent melioration on in the Docs service , there ’s still an objectively superior on-line document delete service out there .
ZoHo Docsis a full on-line office suit ( among other things ) which does nearly everything Google Docs can do , and often more . It offers rich text file redaction , offline editing ( ! ) , and collaborative redaction . Document compatibility on ZoHo is absolutely tops , and the formatting and redaction alternative far exceed Google Docs . There ’s a text editor , a spreadsheet editor in chief and a demonstration editor in chief , to name a few .
Social Network
Google+ was patient zero in Google ’s mad information grab , and while it might not have become the beachhead Google hope for , a decent chunk of folks have ditchedFacebookbecause of its shoddy track record of privacy foible . That plot looks a lot different now , specially since Facebook madea deal with the FTC in Novemberthat force it to obtain consent before sharing your info or changing your privacy configurations . And hey , we actuallyreally love Timeline .
Facebook Finally Fixed Its Terrible Privacy Policy
Combined withTwitter’spopularity and more focused networks likeFoursquare , abandoning Google ’s ghost ship should n’t mess you over too naughtily .
VOIP
This one ’s going to be a swelled stumbling block for a lot of phratry who have become dependent on Google ’s VOIP with Google Voice , but there are other choices out there . Ooma , for one , is a great service of process with a good app , unspoilt gadget , and a bunch of feature if you sign up for a subscription , including a 2nd line , three - way career , call forwarding , and enhanced voicemail feature .
Or if you ’re just trying to skip on the line for a quick call , Skypeis an old and still exceedingly pop standby . Bonus points here for replacing Google Hangouts , if that has somehow become an inbuilt part of your ( manifestly low first moment - have ) life .
Web Video
There wo n’t be any getting around YouTube and its stranglehold on web video , but that ’s not a problem . you could reckon almost all of the content on YouTube without sign into a Google accounting . The issue is with storage , and YouTube is the big user - generated telecasting host on the planet — and free .
Phones
It ’s baffling to get out of your contract if you ’re locked in on an Android sound . But if you ’re up for an upgrade some meter soon , and you want to parry Google ’s information - grab , you should take a long hard look at Windows Phone . Yes , there ’s the iPhone . That ’s really peachy . But Windows Phone is a totally sweet take on phones , and if you ’re run to be an Android exile , you should take a fall in thetotally - young - and - differentpool before trudging back to familiar waters like iOS .
Windows Phone 7.5 Review : Second Best Is n’t Half Bad
Music
Does anyone really utilize Google Music ? We ’re disbelieving , butAmazon is a passably great alternativeto whatever you ’re using . It ’s in the main a mountain pass or two cheaper than what you ’ll determine in other marketplaces , with frequent and expert peck to boot .
Why I ditch iTunes For Amazon MP3s
Pulling the Plug
So , you ’ve migrated what you may , and steady down into you Modern inspection and repair nicely . Now , it ’s time to close your Google account out , once and for all ? Are you ready ? Are you certain ? Ok .
For any grievances you may have about Google ’s seclusion drill , you have to give them deferred payment for making the process stupidly easy .
1 . ) From any Google page , click the configurations link in the top right hand , then Account configurations from the cascading menu .
2 . ) Next to “ My intersection ” , fall into place the “ Edit ” connexion
3 . ) From here , choose to delete individual services , or close your Google Account wholly .
4 . ) Confirm that you want all of your data point erase .
5 . ) DO IT .
Feels foreign , does n’t it ? For anyone with enough venom and need to follow this scout , though , I surmise “ strange ” could be replaced with any number of more gracious adjective . So , X - Googlers : Do you palpate better now ?
This post was in the first place published February 20 , 2010 , and has been updated to be current with our recommendations for getting off the Google mothership .
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