Your digital life after you're gone: accounts, photos and passwords

Phones, email, photos, social media and online money: what happens to them when you die, and how to make things easier for your family without sharing passwords unsafely.

2 min read · updated

Much of our lives now sits behind passwords: photos, messages, documents, money, and memories. When someone dies, families are often locked out of things that matter to them, or left unsure what to close and how. A little planning makes a big difference.

Start with a list

Write down your important accounts, without passwords. For each one, note what it is and what you'd like done with it:

  • Email: often the key to everything else, because password resets go there.
  • Phone: the passcode is needed to reach photos, messages and two-step sign-in codes.
  • Photos and files: cloud storage and photo libraries.
  • Social media: keep as a memorial, or close?
  • Money: online banking, investment apps, digital wallets, cryptocurrency.
  • Subscriptions: streaming, software and memberships that keep charging.
  • Work and business accounts, and who should be told.

Use the legacy tools that already exist

Many large services let you choose someone who can access or manage your account after you die, for example legacy or memorial contacts and inactive-account settings. They take a few minutes to set up and are far safer than sharing passwords. Check the settings or help pages of your email, phone and social media providers.

Passwords: the safe way

  • Use a password manager and turn on its emergency access feature, if it has one, for a trusted person.
  • Never put passwords in a letter, an email or a will. Wills can become public documents, and emails can be read by the wrong person.
  • If you must write down a master password or phone passcode, seal it, keep it somewhere secure, and tell one trusted person where it is.

Photos and memories

Family photos are among the things people most want after a loss. Consider sharing an album with family now, or making sure at least one person can reach your photo library. Add names and dates to old scanned photos while you still remember who's in them.

Say what you want

For each account, a short note helps: "Keep my Facebook as a memorial", "Download the photos, then close the account", "Cancel all subscriptions". It saves your family difficult decisions.

Keep the list where it will be found

Update it once a year. Store it with your other important papers, or attach it to a message in Tellafter so it's delivered to the people you choose if you stop signing in. Remember: the list, not the passwords.

This guide is general information, not legal, financial or medical advice. Rules differ between countries; please speak to a qualified adviser about your situation.

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