It’s valuable to have more than one email address, but it’s also good to know when to delete one. Deleting a Gmail address is easy, but there are a few things you should be aware of and do before you go through with it, especially if you want to keep some of your old emails.

First, download your data. You never know when you might need an old email or piece of information from your Gmail account, so just keep it there just in case. Start by opening up your Gmail account, then click on your profile picture in the top right of the screen. From there, click on “Manage your Google Account.” On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a few options. Click on “Data & privacy,” then scroll down to the “Data from apps and services you use” section. You should see a Gmail button there.

Click it, and you’ll see two options: “Download your data” and “Remove a service.” Select the former and you’ll be presented with a list of things you can download, from calendar entries to contacts to your Drive to, yes, your emails. Select everything you want to download, but if you just want to delete your Gmail account, not necessarily your entire Google account, focus on the emails. The download will include messages and attachments, plus your user settings. You’ll be prompted to proceed to the next step, where you’ll choose how you want to retrieve the data: via email, Drive, or another service.

Once that’s done, you can proceed with the deletion. Click “Delete a Service” in the same place where you originally downloaded your data. You’ll be prompted to enter your password and enter an existing, non-Gmail address. That email address will receive an email with a link to delete your account. You’ll be asked to confirm that you want to delete it, and then you’re done.