That the Google search engine has become one of the most indispensable Internet services is a no-brainer. However, this fact doesn’t just apply to your search engine. Thousands of users connect to Google Photos every day to create backup copies of their memories, upload documents to Google Drive and check their emails through Gmail. The dependence on Google services is very great in some cases.
Google’s business is in advertising. All the platforms that it offers apparently for free are designed to obtain information from the user . This data is then processed and used to target ads, making them much more effective. But is there really an alternative to Google services ? Of course yes. If you have considered putting aside its applications and using other solvent solutions, in this article we give you some suggestions. In addition, we tell you how you can completely delete your account .
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THE BEST ALTERNATIVES TO GOOGLE APPLICATIONS
Before leaving aside all the applications of the Californian company, it is important that you define what your motivation is when it comes to abandoning them. You may be concerned about dependency on the cloud and loss of data in a supposed server crash. You may also not like depending on one company to keep all your data safe. Not surprisingly, wanting to put Google aside stems from growing concerns about privacy. Depending on the main reason, you should use one or the other alternatives.
GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE
We started with one of the most drastic changes. We refer to stop using the Google search engine , a task that can be very difficult at first. However, it is possible if you opt for these options:
- DuckDuckGo
- Bing
- Ecosia
- Qwant.
- Swisscows.
- Search Encrypt.
- StartPage
Some alternatives come with interesting proposals. DuckDuckGo , meanwhile, does not track you and is private. Also striking is Ecosia, which plants trees as users search.
GOOGLE DOCS
We must recognize that Google’s office suite has some interesting advantages. Without going any further, its options for collaboration between users are very powerful. However, if you are looking for alternatives here are some:
- Microsoft Office
- LibreOffice
- OnlyOffice
- FreeOffice
- WPS Office
- Calligra
- OfficeSuite
- Polaris Office
- WordPerfect
- Zoho Workplace
If you are looking for a universal and powerful solution, Microsoft Office is the most recommended. Of course, you will have to pay a license or a subscription to use it. If you want privacy, use LibreOffice locally. The rest are good applications that we recommend you try to discover their strengths and weaknesses.
GOOGLE CHROME
Google’s browser is the most widely used in the world. According to NetMarketShare , by 2020 it had a market share of almost 70%. But it is not the only option you have at your disposal. And if you don’t believe it, take a look at the following list:
- Brave
- Vivaldi
- Firefox
- Safari
- Opera
- Tor Browser
- Avast Secure Browser
- Torch Browser
- Maxthon Cloud Browser
- Microsoft Edge
- Epic
If your intention is to use a more private browser, there are some names on the list that are highly recommended. Firefox is historically a privacy-conscious browser. To this we must add Brave, Tor Browser or Epic . Other options are good alternatives on specific operating systems. Safari is a great option for macOS users and Edge works really well on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
GOOGLE DRIVE
Cloud storage is a very competitive market. That means there are quite a few alternatives to Google Drive . Some are focused on privacy and others are integrated with alternative office solutions.
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
- pCloud
- Tresorit
- Sync.com
- SpiderOak One
- Box
- Jottacloud
- Backblaze
- Mega
Dropbox is one of the veterans in this field. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only option either. OneDrive is ideal on Windows 10 and Windows 11 thanks to the integration. As it could not be otherwise, it is also the right choice if you have opted for Microsoft Office. While options like pCloud focus on privacy, Mega offers a large amount of space for free.
GMAIL
We come to one of the most personal services of all: email. If you decide to stop using Gmail, it means that you give up your address. Depending on whether you are already a user of another service or not, this could be a feasible possibility. In any case, here are some of the best alternatives to Gmail.
- ProtonMail
- Zoho Mail
- Outlook
- Yahoo! Mail
- HubSpot
- iCloud
ProtonMail is a private alternative to Gmail. Outlook is the option proposed by Microsoft. Yahoo! Mail is interesting because it offers a much higher amount of space than Google’s option. And like Safari, iCloud is the most integrated email service with macOS. Do not forget that when you create an account in each of them you will get a new email address.
GOOGLE KEEP
Google Keep is the place where many make annotations. In fact, if you know the right tricks you can get to get a lot out of it. All in all, the alternatives to the Google notepad are many. To show a button:
- Evernote
- Todoist
- Zenkit
- OneNote
- Microsoft To-Do
- Simplenote
- Remember The Milk
- Tello
- Simplenote
- Notion
- Standard Notes
As you can see, the selection also includes task applications that allow you to take notes . In this case, the final choice will depend on how you use Google Keep. From here a special mention for the Standard Notes end-to-end encryption option, for all those who are concerned about their privacy.
HOW TO PERMANENTLY DELETE MY GOOGLE ACCOUNT
Deleting your Google account is the most drastic solution to completely forget about the company. Do it as follows:
- Go to Google’s My Account .
- Access the Data and privacy section .
- Scroll to the bottom of the list of options and click Delete your Google account .
- Enter your password.
- Use the Download your data link to create a backup of your information.
- Check the two boxes that you will see at the bottom of the page.
- Click on Remove account .