Review the Apps Connected to Your Google and Apple Accounts
Matthew Leo · September 26, 2026 · Guides
An app you tried once may still appear in your Google or Apple account. Some connections only make signing in easier. Others can read or change information such as calendar events or files. Those are different permissions, so don't remove everything blindly.
Take ten minutes to review the list, starting with unfamiliar services and apps you no longer use. Do this from the account provider's own settings, not from a link in an unexpected email.
Google has more than one kind of connection
Open Google's linked apps page while signed in to the right Google Account. Select a service and open its details. If you use several Google Accounts, repeat the check for each one; the lists are separate.
Google divides links into different types. The label tells you what removing it will do:
- Sign in with Google: The service uses Google to authenticate you. Choose the app, See details, then Stop using Sign in with Google if you no longer want that link. This stops automatic sign-in, but does not erase the service's own account or data.
- Access to your Google Account: A third-party app may be allowed to see or manage Google data. Choose Access to your Google Account, select the app, open See details and review the permissions. Use Remove access if it no longer needs them.
- Linked account: Google may have access to an account you hold with another service. Review the details before choosing Delete link; features that depend on that connection may stop working.
Those are the current labels in Google's help instructions. A single service can have more than one link type, so removing its sign-in link may not remove a separate data-access grant. Check each entry rather than assuming the first button ends every connection.
Read the permission before you revoke it
Basic profile access can give an app your name, email address and picture. A broader grant may allow it to view or copy Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Photos or Contacts data. A management grant can go further and create, edit or delete information. Google's permission guide says the app can use only the access you authorized, but that access can be substantial.
If an app is part of a current workflow, find out what will break before you remove it. A calendar scheduler may stop updating appointments. A backup service may stop receiving new files. If the app looks unfamiliar or its requested access is far wider than its job, remove access and investigate the service separately.
Revocation cuts off future access through that grant; it does not recall copies already held by the developer. Google says you may need to contact the developer to request deletion of data it has obtained. Removing a link also does not delete an app's account. Use that service's own privacy or account controls if you want its stored information removed.
Check Sign in with Apple separately
On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then Sign in with Apple. Choose an app or website to see its details. Apple's Canadian support page also provides a route on Mac through System Settings, your name and Sign in with Apple, or on the web at account.apple.com under Sign-In & Security.
If you no longer want to use the Apple sign-in link, select Delete for that app. Apple says this signs you out. If you sign in again later, the service may reconnect to the same account, depending on how the developer set it up. Do not assume deleting the sign-in link deletes the account or its data at the other company.
Check whether you used Hide My Email before changing anything. A private relay address can be the address the service knows, and its forwarding controls are a separate setting. Save anything important and confirm another sign-in or recovery route first, particularly for a paid subscription or account containing files.
What this check does not cover
An app installed on your phone may have camera, location or photo permissions granted by the operating system. Those do not necessarily appear on a Google or Apple sign-in list. Review them under the phone's privacy settings too. A browser extension can also have site access independent of these account links.
Likewise, an old laptop signed into your account is a device session, not an app connection. Use our separate guide to remove old devices from an Apple or Google account. If you suspect someone else has account access, change the password, inspect recent security activity and review two-factor methods rather than treating one app revocation as a complete response.
Keep a connection when you recognize the service, still need the feature and understand its permissions. Remove it when the service is abandoned or the access is no longer justified. Check again after changing jobs, switching phones or trying a new app that asked for your account data.
Tags: account security, Google Account, Apple Account, app permissions