Most of us now keep our money, photos, bills and memories behind logins. If something happened to you tomorrow, could your family find your accounts, pay the bills on autopay, and save the photos you care about? This guide walks through how to leave a clear, safe map of your digital life without writing every password on a sticky note.
Why this matters
When no one knows which accounts exist, bills keep charging, subscriptions renew, photos get lost when an account is closed for inactivity, and families spend months chasing down statements. A simple inventory, kept somewhere safe and shared with one trusted person, prevents most of that.
Step 1: Make an inventory of your accounts
List the accounts, not the passwords. For each one, write the service name, the login email or username, and what should happen to it.
- Money: checking and savings, credit cards, retirement and investment accounts, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and similar apps, any cryptocurrency.
- Bills on autopay: mortgage or rent, utilities, phone, internet, insurance, car payments.
- Subscriptions: streaming, software, memberships, deliveries, cloud storage.
- Email: often the key to resetting everything else, so list every address you use.
- Photos and files: iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive, external drives.
- Social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok and others, with your wishes for each.
- Devices: phone, computer, tablet, and where the unlock codes are kept.
- Loyalty and rewards: airline miles, hotel points and store rewards, which can sometimes be transferred.
Step 2: Decide how your family will get in
Writing passwords in a notebook is risky and they change constantly. Safer options:
- A password manager with emergency access. Many password managers let you name a trusted contact who can request access after a waiting period you choose.
- Built-in legacy features. Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager and Facebook's legacy contact let you decide ahead of time who can access or memorialize your account.
- A sealed master note. If you do write down a master password or phone passcode, store it with your will or in a safe, and tell your executor where it is.
Step 3: Write down your wishes
For each account, note whether it should be closed, memorialized, transferred or downloaded first. Say which photos and files matter most and who should get copies. This is also a good place to note any domain names, online businesses or monetized accounts.
Step 4: Tell one person and keep it current
Choose one trusted person, often your executor, and tell them the inventory exists and where it is. Review it once a year, for example at tax time or on your birthday, and whenever you open or close a major account.
A simple digital accounts checklist
| Category | What to record |
|---|---|
| Email accounts | Address, recovery phone, legacy contact set up? |
| Financial accounts and apps | Institution, login email, autopay linked to it |
| Bills and subscriptions | Service, monthly cost, card it charges |
| Photos and cloud storage | Service, what's stored, who should get copies |
| Social media | Close, memorialize or leave as is |
| Devices | Where unlock codes are kept |
| Password manager | Which one, and who has emergency access |
Keep it all in one place
Your digital inventory works best next to the rest of your important information: print it and keep it with your will, without the passwords. For the paper side, see our important documents checklist, and for the bigger picture, our end-of-life planning checklist. For the medical part of being prepared, get the free ER-Ready Kit: the one-page Emergency Health Summary, the "Where should I go?" guide and interpreter wallet cards, in English and Spanish.
The Ambos Health team
General information, not legal or financial advice. Rules for accessing a deceased person's accounts vary by service and by state.