One of the lesser-known features that Google offers is a “Dark Web Report” monitoring tool, but it’s about to shut down in early 2026.
Google has just sent out an email to active users of its “Dark Web Report” tool to inform them that, as of February 16, 2026, the tool will be shut down.
The feature was made available to all Google account holders in July 2024, with this shutdown coming less than a year and a half after the wide rollout.
This tool would monitor the dark web – a hidden part of the internet accessed through special browsers and often used for malicious or illegal activities – for your Google account’s email address. It was a free part of your Google account that simply provided updates on if your email was found on these potentially dangerous sites.
On a support page, Google explains that it will be shutting down this tool because it “didn’t provide helpful next steps.”
Google says:
While the report offered general information, feedback showed that it didn’t provide helpful next steps. We’re making this change to instead focus on tools that give you more clear, actionable steps to protect your information online. We’ll continue to track and defend you from online threats, including the dark web, and build tools that help protect you and your personal information.
The same page also says that dark web scans by the tool will cease on January 15, 2026, while the tool as a whole will no longer be accessible in February on the aforementioned date. February 16 is also the date that all data will be deleted from the tool.
Both in its email and on the support page, Google recommends that users take advantage of other tools for protecting their account including Security Checkup, passkeys, Authentication Tools through the Google Safety Center, Password Manager, and Password Checkup.
Google’s full email to users reads:
An update on dark web report
We are discontinuing the dark web report, which was meant to scan the dark web for your personal information. It will stop monitoring for new results on January 15, 2026 and its data will no longer be available from February 16, 2026. While the report offered general information, feedback showed that it did not provide helpful next steps. We’re making this change to instead focus on tools that give you more clear, actionable steps to protect your information online. We will continue to track and defend you from online threats, including the dark web, and build tools that help protect you and your personal information.
On February 16, 2026 the report will no longer be available and all related data will be removed. If you wish to remove your monitoring profile earlier, you can learn how to do so here.
In the meantime, we encourage you to use the existing tools we offer to strengthen your security and privacy, including Security and Privacy Checkups, Passkey, 2-Step Verification, Google Password Manager, and Password Checkup. We encourage you to also use Results about you, which can be used to find and request the removal of your personal information from Google Search results, like your phone number and home address. Generally, we’ll continue to offer tips and tools to help you stay safe online.
Thank you,
The Google team
Thanks Jason!
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