How to Set Up a Legacy Contact on Apple, Google & Facebook

Step-by-step · 10 minutes total

A "legacy contact" is a person you choose who can reach your account if something happens to you. The big platforms all offer it now — and most people have no idea. Setting up all three takes about ten minutes. Here's exactly how.

Apple (iCloud, photos, notes, files)

• Open Settings → tap your name at the top.
• Tap Sign-In & Security → Legacy Contact.
• Tap Add Legacy Contact, choose the person, and share the access key (Messages works, or print it).
• They'll need that key plus your death certificate to gain access — no court order required.

Google (Gmail, Drive, Google Photos, YouTube)

• Go to myaccount.google.com → search Inactive Account Manager.
• Set how long Google should wait after your account goes inactive (3–18 months).
• Add up to 10 people who should be notified and what data they can download.
• Optionally, have Google delete the account afterward.

Facebook & Instagram

• Facebook: Settings & privacy → Settings → Memorialization settings → choose a Legacy Contact who can manage your memorialized profile.
• Instagram: no legacy contact, but accounts can be memorialized or removed by a family member with proof.

One step that ties it all together

Legacy contacts are powerful — but they only work if your people know they exist. A legacy contact buried in settings that nobody knows about helps no one. The missing piece is a simple, findable note of what you've set up and where everything lives.

Postlude is that note — a guided map of your accounts, your legacy contacts, and who should get what, all in one calm place.