How does a landlord find and remove apps that can read their email account?
Open your Google or Microsoft account's connected apps page, sort out what you still use, and remove the rest. Each app you once clicked Allow on may still be able to read mail, files or your calendar. For a landlord that mailbox holds applications, leases and bank notices, so a yearly review is a cheap way to shrink the risk. Google's help page lists four types of access and lets you remove any of them.
Why old connections are a quiet risk
Over the years you try a scheduling tool, a signature app, a scanner, a newsletter tool or a free rent calculator. Many ask you to sign in with Google or Microsoft and approve access. You use the tool twice and forget it. The permission stays. If that company is later sold or breached, its stored token may still open your mailbox.
A rental mailbox carries tenant applications, copies of IDs, lease PDFs and messages about money. An app with permission to read mail sees all of it. That is the reason to review the list.
Review the list in a Google account
Google's help page says to go to your account's linked apps page, search or filter the list, open an app and remove the link or access, then confirm. It describes four types of access: sign in with Google, account linking, access to account data and permissions for AI agents. Removing a sign-in link stops automatic sign-in but does not delete your data in the app, and removing data access blocks the app from reading your Google data, which can disable some of its features.
- Open your account's linked apps page while signed in.
- Filter for apps with access to account data first. They matter most.
- Open each unfamiliar app and read what it can see.
- Remove anything you do not use or recognize.
Microsoft and other providers
Microsoft accounts have a similar apps and services page in the account's privacy or security settings, where you can see which apps have access and remove them. Workplace accounts managed by an administrator may block this page. Menu names move around, so search the provider's help for "apps with access" and follow the current steps.
Set a reminder after any big change, such as hiring a new bookkeeper or switching rent software. Those are the moments when new connections pile up and old ones are left behind. A five-minute check after each change keeps the list short, and a short list is easy to read.
Do the same for your bank, accounting software and rent portal. Anywhere you grant outside tools access, there is usually a list.
What to keep and what to cut
| App type | Keep? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your accounting or rent software | Keep if used | It does a job you rely on. Check the permission is no wider than the job. |
| A tool you tried once | Remove | No reason to keep access. |
| Free tools with broad mail access | Remove | Mail access is a large permission. |
| Apps you do not recognize | Remove, then change your password | It may be a sign of a phishing grant. |
If something unfamiliar had access, assume the worst, change your email password, turn on two-factor sign-in and check for forwarding rules and recent sign-ins. Our post on a hacked landlord email covers the steps.
A note on AI assistants and connectors
Google's page now lists permissions for AI agents as their own type. If you connect an assistant to your email or files, give it the narrowest access that does the job, and know where to remove it. A connector to rental records that is built for the purpose, with roles and an approval step for money, is safer than giving a general tool your whole mailbox.
With DoorKeeping, your own assistant works through its connector, anything involving money or legal steps waits for your one-tap approval, and you can end the connection from your account. DoorKeeping never holds your money.
Sources
- Google Account Help, Manage apps with access to your account, read Oct 30, 2026
- CISA, More than a Password (multifactor authentication), read Oct 30, 2026
- FTC, Cybersecurity for Small Business, read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- Does removing an app delete my data in it?
- Usually no. Removing a link stops the app from reaching your account, but its own copy of data stays until you delete your account there.
- How often should I review connected apps?
- Once a year at least, and whenever you stop using a tool.
- Will removing an app break my rent software?
- Only if you remove one you use. Open each app's details first and keep what you still need.