How to Quit Google Plus

With all the recent hoopla around Google’s latest attempt at Social Networking – the Google Plus, many of us have simply signed up or were invited into the very private beta and did not think twice about what data or for that matter the whole circles deal was all about. Now we have a fair understanding of this service, well at least there are the early adopters (geeks) to guide us all. Check out Ben Parr’s 4000 word guide to Google Plus on Mashable! and you can even Google for more (no pun intended).

Now I have a problem, my social profiles like the one on facebook & twitter don’t really gel with my GMail account which has been in existence far longer, covering various contacts, ex-girlfriends, lost friends, ex-clients and what not. And this does not go with my current lifestyle either. So I looked for ways to delete & restart my Google+ experience.

This is what I found out to be the best way out of Google Plus: Downgrading your account without deleting other Google services.

Simple 5 Step process to follow:

Sign in to Google+
Click your full name or email address in the Google+ bar.
Click Account settings.
Click the Account overview tab.
Click Delete profile and remove associated social features

And this should set you free.

Now all I have to do is get myself a brand new Google+ account which is more “Me”.

Let me know your thoughts and comments.

Update: Add me on Google Plus – MrShri

http://neseco.com Shahram Khorsand

Interesting and amusing at the same time. The rush into G+ was really interesting to see, within 24 hours it was the only thing within my tweeter feed.
Now, I like the service, it is more “professional” and interesting than Facebook. It has potentials.
I understand the fresh start part as you mention you don’t want to get entangled in old “sins”.

Looking forward to the sequel blog!
Bob

=it’s not true.
it doesn’t let you delete google+,
it’s ask you to confirm that it will delete your GMAIL account as well.

lame.

LMorland

No, Bob — you must not have followed the directions properly. There are two options: one to quit Google + and the other to quit everthing Google. I selected the former.

Ike

Thanks for that. It did work for me. Am off Google+ as a new news report says their new privacy law coming up 1st of March 2012 will share data from Gmail to Google+ but the devastating part is users won’t have an option of opting out. Thank goodness to Twitter as i found this news quickly and was able to quit. Thanks again mate!
Dagny72

thanks for the post. google is getting worse and worse about forcing one down a certain path. when i went to do this, it kept opening a new window to force me to add contacts to my “circles”. i had to beat the speed of the window because it would not close once opened. scary.
http://www.facebook.com/blake.linton Blake Linton

Thanks! This worked perfectly for me. I signed up for Google+ because it seems to be required to “like” a YouTube video nowadays, but it cluttered my Google search results page. What a nuisance!
Ellysium87

Thank you SO MUCH!!
JC

Google+ completely destroyed the joy and ease of using and sharing Picasa albums. All bells and whistles, no utility. Thanks for the tips. It worked. Good riddance, Google+
Tampa B

Thanks for your guide. Perfectly done!
http://twitter.com/LauraMorland Laura Morland

Five months now without Google + — thanks to YOU — and I couldn’t be happier! I can share my Picasa photos as I always did, without requiring that my recipients join Google +.

What a lame idea on their part.
leecarolineart leecarolineart

Hi,

I wonder if you can advise me. I used to use Picasa to share photos with family and friends. As a blogger I use google plus to log onto my blog. However, when I went to look at some old photos today on Picasa it would only log me in through google plus and only give me access to my blog photos

How can I access my old picasa photos that were signed up through a hotmail account, not a gmail account?

Can you advise please, I would really appreciate your help
Lee
Silvia Futada

Perfect!! Tks!!!
thisisfutile

All I wanted to do was thumbs up a Youtube video so I was forced to login. At login I was given 3 or 4 options and apparently chose the wrong one as I was immediately receiving Google+ emails saying “Welcome”. I want nothing to do with it yet it has been shoved down my throat. Starting to really dislike Google.

Thanks for this post though the procedure has changed considerably.