Google has become ubiquitous, invading every part of our lives, and there are a lot of reasons to step away from using Google products. No matter if you want to ditch Google because of privacy concerns or because you don’t like monopolies, I’ll show you how to remove Google from your life.
Stop Using Chrome and Google Search
The first order of business is to get rid of Google Search and the Chrome browser. These are what made Google the giant it is today, and it’s arguably where the company makes the most impact on the world. It’s also probably where the biggest changes have been for most users—and not always changes for the better. Thankfully, there are a lot of alternatives you can choose from.
Changing the way you surf the web is pretty easy; almost every browser and operating system will let you change the default. Of course, knowing what to change it to is not unimportant. There are a few private search engines to choose from. I myself am partial to DuckDuckGo, but there are plenty of others.
Even with a different search engine, though, you will still be stuck in the Google ecosystem unless you also change your browser. Generally speaking, the best choices when it comes to privacy are Brave and Mozilla Firefox (or Firefox-based alternatives). These two work just as well as Chrome does (even faster, in my experience) but without Google looming over you. I’d give them both a shot and see how you like them.
Brave is built on Chromium, which is primarily a Google endeavor. However, Brave has been reworked to offer some additional privacy-focused features.
Get a New Mailbox and Calendar
Another way in which most of us interact with Google is email, more specifically Gmail and Google Calendar.
When it comes to ease of use, Gmail will always hold a place in my heart. That said, I just don’t trust Google with my emails anymore, so I switched to Proton Mail. I much prefer it, and in some ways I think the interface is better, too—though not in some others.
One big advantage is that Proton Mail comes with Proton Calendar included, meaning that you can get rid of two intrusive apps at the same time. The even better news is that Proton Calendar works fine with Google invites, so you’ll barely notice the difference. It’s very easy to switch from Google to Proton, so that shouldn’t stop you.
If you’re not a fan of Proton, for whatever reason, I would recommend you check out Tuta. It’s another secure email service that has an integrated calendar, which I really liked. The interface feels a bit more polished, too, and may even be better than both contenders in that regard, though it will always be down to taste.
Switch to a Different Cloud Storage Service
Chances are that you use Google Drive in some capacity: you get 15GB of Drive storage when you sign up for Gmail, and that storage is pooled between the two. However, there are questions about how secure and private it is as reports of Google spying on Drive content pop up every few years, and are never completely refuted by the company.
As a result, I never store anything sensitive on Google Drive, and I recommend you don’t either. In our roundup of the best cloud storage services there are several options that are more secure than Google Drive, and are probably easier to use, to boot. I especially like Sync.com, which offers 5GB of space for free. Sure, it’s not Google’s 15GB, but it’s a lot safer.
Find Alternatives to Docs, Sheets, Etc.
One massive upside to using Google Drive, and thus a downside to giving it up, is its productivity suite with apps like Google Docs, Sheets, and a few other programs. Sadly, currently there’s no good online alternative (Proton launched a Docs clone, but it’s not great) besides Microsoft’s Word suite. Generally, though, Big Tech isn’t a cure for Big Tech.
Instead, you could consider using programs like LibreOffice or OpenOffice. Though you won’t have the automatic online backup Google offers, at least you’ll know your data is still just yours. You can always combine them with an online backup solution to set up regular times your files get copied into the cloud.
Get Off the Maps
The final Google app you may want to get out of your life is Maps. For me, this was the hardest to get rid of as it just works so well (and I like to use the reviews to avoid dodgy restaurants) but there is overwhelming evidence that Google is tracking our location. This information can be used for all kinds of purposes, but above all the idea that anybody is tracking where I go makes my skin crawl, so I decided to get rid of Maps.
The problem is, of course, finding a good alternative. There are many that sort of do the job, but none work as a full replacement. I settled for a combination of Waze and Maps.me on my phone, and DuckDuckGo Maps on my laptop. Though it’s not as convenient as Google Maps, and I miss my reviews, I’m happy to know I’m not being tracked anymore.
Removing Google From Your Life Isn’t Easy
As you can see, getting rid of Google isn’t easy, and sometimes it means you’ll have to make some kind of sacrifice of convenience. Maybe you won’t have the same convenience of maps, or you’ll have to do without Google Docs, both of which can be annoying.
For me it’s worth it, though, as it also means that my data remains mine, without Google using it to sell me stuff. In some cases, like email, the alternatives are even better, something I hope we’ll be able to say about all Google apps in the near future.
