Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#1

Post by orbanlevi » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:13 PM UTC

Ofc after you die, doesnt matter in the first place, but to be honest, I've been thinking about what my wife would have to deal with digitally when I'm gone. All accounts on the internet, my old pictures in Google Drive, documentation and things like that.

I have password manager, so I pass this to my wife it can be easy to reach the profiles, but what else can I do to help / easier the whole process?

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#2

Post by tombelieber » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:39 PM UTC

I want to know too, mine is using pure iCloud

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#3

Post by alcazar » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

I set up a Dead Man's Switch. It sends me an email with a link every day. If I click it, I acknowledge that I am alive and nothing happens. If I do not, after a grace period and more reminders, it sends an email to my wife with a password-protected file. I have listed all our accounts, passwords, assets, etc., along with instructions on what to do and whom to ask for help.

Disclaimer: I sell digital legacy products. However, I also honestly use them, and some of these tools I distribute for free and have made open-source.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#4

Post by zplb » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

You better watch out for is 2FA, sometimes even with passwords people still get locked out, so backup codes can help.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#5

Post by chistev » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:44 PM UTC

alcazar wrote: post #3

I set up a Dead Man's Switch. It sends me an email with a link every day. If I click it, I acknowledge that I am alive and nothing happens. If I do not, after a grace period and more reminders, it sends an email to my wife with a password-protected file. I have listed all our accounts, passwords, assets, etc., along with instructions on what to do and whom to ask for help. Disclaimer: I sell digital legacy products.…

Wow, why every day and not weekly? Every day seems too frequent.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#6

Post by alcazar » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 3:42 PM UTC

chistev wrote: post #5

alcazar wrote: post #3

I set up a Dead Man's Switch. It sends me an email with a link every day. If I click it, I acknowledge that I am alive and nothing happens. If I do not, after a grace period and more reminders, it sends an email to my wife with a password-protected file. I have listed all our accounts, passwords, assets, etc., along with instructions on what to do and whom to ask for help. Disclaimer: I sell digital legacy products.…

Wow, why every day and not weekly? Every day seems too frequent.

I also thought that, but I like it this way. It supports weekly checks as well.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#7

Post by hernanhumana » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

hard disk from the 90s

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#8

Post by tuxnotfound » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#9

Post by iamdecatalyst » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC

I heard someone talking about the Dead Hand system that lowkey sounds as interesting as hell gonna try it out

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your digital legacy for after you die?

#10

Post by sdevonoes » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 8:41 PM UTC

Best strategy is to minimise your digital footprint. There are non-negotiable things like: bank accounts, mortgages and the like. Internet accounts, books, pics, videos are all expendable