How to delete your Firebase account

About deleting your Firebase account

Firebase is a comprehensive mobile and web application development platform owned by Google, offering services like Realtime Database, Firestore, Authentication, and Cloud Messaging. As a backend-as-a-service (BaaS), Firebase handles complex infrastructure, including user identity management, real-time data synchronization, and serverless compute, making it a powerful tool for developers but also a centralized hub for sensitive user data.

Users or developers may choose to delete their Firebase account for several specific reasons:

• Migration to a self-hosted or alternative backend infrastructure to reduce dependency on the Google Cloud ecosystem.
• Security compliance requirements to ensure data residency or to remove sensitive production data during project decommissioning.
• Discontinuation of an application that no longer requires active authentication, hosting, or telemetry services provided by Firebase.
• Consolidating Google Cloud Platform projects to clean up unused cloud resources and avoid accidental billing.

What happens to your data

When you trigger a project deletion in the Firebase console, Google initiates a process to reclaim the resources associated with your project. This includes the deletion of all databases (Firestore and Realtime Database), storage buckets, and Auth user lists. Note that because Firebase is built on Google Cloud Platform, project deletion is subject to a 30-day "soft delete" recovery window before data is permanently wiped from Google’s production systems.

Specific data types handled by Firebase include:

• Identity records including email addresses, phone numbers, and OIDC provider tokens.
• Application data stored in NoSQL collections or JSON trees.
• Analytics event logs, crash reports, and performance monitoring traces.
• Cloud Storage assets such as user-uploaded images and documents.

Privacy considerations

Firebase integrates deeply with Google’s advertising and analytics ecosystem, which often leads to concerns regarding data sharing and tracking. Firebase Crashlytics and Google Analytics for Firebase may collect device identifiers and usage telemetry by default, which can be shared across Google services for audience modeling. To maintain stricter privacy, developers should utilize the Firebase Privacy Manifests and ensure they implement proper consent flows for end-users.

• Disable automatic data sharing with Google products in the project settings if you wish to minimize telemetry.
• Use the Firebase Anonymous Authentication feature with caution, as it still generates unique persistent identifiers for devices.
• Regularly prune unused authentication records to minimize the amount of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) stored in your user base.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting a Firebase project automatically delete the associated Google Cloud project?

Yes, since Firebase projects are essentially Google Cloud projects, deleting the Firebase project will delete the underlying GCP project and all associated resources.

Can I recover my Firebase data after deletion?

Google provides a 30-day window during which you can restore a project after initiating deletion. After this period, data becomes unrecoverable.

Does deleting the project remove analytics data stored in Google Analytics?

While the Firebase project is removed, some aggregated analytics data may persist in your linked Google Analytics account unless you delete those properties separately.

What happens to my users' Firebase Authentication data?

All user identity records, including password hashes and linked OAuth accounts, are purged upon project deletion, effectively locking users out of your application.

Will deleting my project stop Firebase billing immediately?

Yes, deleting the project stops the consumption of paid services, though you will be billed for any usage accumulated up until the exact moment of deletion.

How do I export my data before deleting the Firebase project?

Use the Firebase CLI or the export features in the Firestore/Realtime Database consoles to download your JSON or database snapshots before proceeding with deletion.