De-Google in 30 Days: The Complete Migration Checklist

You Can Leave Google in One Month. Here's the Exact Plan.

The hardest part of leaving Google isn't finding alternatives — it's doing it without losing data or breaking the 40 accounts that email you. Most people start strong, stall on day three when they realize their bank still sends alerts to Gmail, and give up.

This checklist solves that. It sequences the migration so nothing breaks, gives you a concrete task per day, and front-loads the work that takes longest (email, obviously). By day 30, Google won't have your email, your files, your calendar, your browser history, or your search queries.

The tool doing most of the heavy lifting: Proton. One account covers your encrypted email, calendar, cloud storage, and passwords. You'll only need one non-Proton decision: your browser (Brave) and its built-in search.

Let's go.

Week 1: Email (Days 1–7)

Email is the keystone. Every other account you own is linked to it. Get this right first and the rest of the migration gets easier.

Day 1 — Create your Proton Mail account.

Go to proton.me and create your account. Choose your permanent address carefully — you'll be updating 40+ accounts to this over the next 30 days. If your name is taken, use a dot or short word (e.g., jason.w@proton.me). Free tier works for migration; upgrade to Proton Unlimited when you're ready to add a custom domain.

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Day 20 — Move Google Photos (if applicable).

If you use Google Photos, this is its own migration project. Download via Google Takeout (select Photos), then choose a destination: Proton Drive, local storage on an external drive, or a photos-specific alternative like Ente. This can be large — 50GB+ for active photo takers — so start the export now even if you finish later.

Day 21 — Empty your Google Drive.

Once you've confirmed your files exist in Proton Drive, delete them from Google Drive. This isn't permanent yet (Google keeps deleted files for 30 days), but it signals you're done depending on that storage.

Week 4: Browser, Search, and Final Audit (Days 22–30)

Day 22 — Install Brave.

Download Brave browser. On first launch, it offers to import your Chrome bookmarks, extensions, and saved passwords. Do the bookmark import. Hold off on passwords — we'll handle those with Proton Pass in a moment.

Day 23 — Set Brave Search as your default.

In Brave Settings → Search engine → set Brave Search as default. Brave Search is fully independent — it doesn't use Google or Bing indexes. There's a brief adjustment period where results feel slightly different. Stick with it for a week before judging it.

Day 24 — Migrate your passwords with Proton Pass.

Export your Chrome saved passwords (Settings → Passwords → Export). Import the CSV into Proton Pass (the Proton password manager). Install the Proton Pass browser extension in Brave. This replaces Google's auto-fill across all your devices and covers the "passwords" dimension of your Google dependency — the 4th area Proton handles.

Day 25 — Install privacy extensions in Brave.

Brave's built-in shields block most trackers, but add uBlock Origin for belt-and-suspenders ad blocking. Optionally add the Proton Pass extension for auto-fill. That's it — don't install more extensions than you need. Each one is an attack surface.

Day 26 — Disconnect Google account from your phone's system settings.

On Android: Settings → Accounts → Google → Remove account. This stops background sync to Google's servers for contacts, calendar, and Drive. You'll have Proton equivalents running. On iOS, this is in Settings → Mail → Accounts.

Day 27 — Audit your Google account's "Connected apps."

Go to myaccount.google.com/connections. Every app that has "Sign in with Google" access is listed here. For the ones you still use, set up a new account with your Proton email instead. Revoke access for the ones you're done with. This step catches the apps that quietly call home to Google on your behalf.

Day 28 — Change your Google account recovery settings.

Update your account recovery phone number and backup email to non-Google addresses. This matters even if you plan to delete the account — you want control until the last moment.

Day 29 — Switch your DNS.

Your ISP's DNS resolver logs every domain you visit. Switch to a privacy-respecting alternative: Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 (set in your router for household-wide coverage) or Quad9 (9.9.9.9) which also blocks known malicious domains. This one step covers every device on your network.

Day 30 — Final audit and decision on the Google account.

Check: Are there any accounts still sending to Gmail that you use? Search your Proton inbox for Gmail mentions. Run a search in Gmail for emails from the last 7 days — everything should be appearing in both due to forwarding. If you see gaps, hunt down those accounts.

Then make your call: delete the Google account, or leave it in read-only mode as a permanent catch-all for stragglers. Most people leave it alive but stop actively using it. Deleting is permanent — only do it if you're confident nothing critical still points there.

What You've Built

By day 30, your data footprint looks like this:

Email: Proton Mail, end-to-end encrypted, custom domain optional
Calendar: Proton Calendar, zero-knowledge encrypted
Files: Proton Drive, client-side encrypted before upload
Passwords: Proton Pass, encrypted vault replacing Chrome's keychain
Browser: Brave, blocking trackers at the network layer
Search: Brave Search, independent index, no Google in the loop

Proton's zero-knowledge architecture means even Proton can't read your email, calendar events, or files. That's the actual difference between "we promise not to look" and "we technically can't look."

The migration is done when forwarding is no longer catching anything new. Most people hit that point around day 45–60 for truly long-tail accounts. Don't rush the final delete.

Keep Your Privacy Sharp

This checklist gets you out. Staying out is a habit. Every few months, revisit your connected apps list and trim what you've stopped using.

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