Lost Gmail Account (laptop, desktop, hard drive, email)
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I unfortunately recently destroyed my laptop's charging port by catching my foot in the cord and yanking it to one side, presumably severing the wires, because it's now very loose and doesn't charge. I'm told by the young tech repair person that it would be quite a costly repair for a very old machine and "not worth it," so I bit the bullet and bought a new one.
Because I'd kept a written list of all my user names and passwords, logging on to my usual sites (including this one) was a fairly painless process -- until it came to Google.
1) It appears I created the account using my work email (dumb, I know), and now that I'm retired, that address is defunct. I either never thought of changing it to a personal email (I retired rather "abruptly") or never figured out how to do so if the idea ever did occur to me.
2) It asks for my email address and says it will send a security code to it. What good does that do me if I can't break into my email? Obviously, I won't be able to see it! Makes no sense.
3) It then asks for my password which, like that for every other account, I'd written down, and tells me it's wrong. I'm then forced to click on "try another way."
4) It then asks for my phone number, which at first it accepted, asking if I preferred the security code phoned in or texted to me. I chose "text" and got nothing; hit "resend" and got nothing; then chose "call" and got nothing; hit "resend" and got nothing. Multiple times: lather, rinse, repeat.
5) After a couple of days of that, it now refuses to accept the same phone number, telling me it's "wrong." Hello, it's the only phone number I've ever had since leaving my childhood home's land line, so I don't think so! At this point I'm really getting aggravated.
6) So I click "try another way" or whatever again. It tells me to "answer as many questions as possible," but - OOPS - I don't see any questions, and there's no link to any questions, which I can only assume I answered at the time I created the account if I were prompted to do so and, if I could now access them, that might potentially result in recovery. I go "account recovery page," and there's zero help to be had there.
5) Finally, after I've fiddled with it for a while, it tells me I've exhausted all my possible attempts and am locked out for the next 24 hours. I've repeated this process four times now.
No one I've asked has been able to help me with this; the only advice is "call Google" which seems futile.
I've had to create another email account with another server (?) and, yes, I could just use that from now on, but my Gmail had archived emails of great sentimental value which, again unfortunately, I never got around to printing out. I feel my only recourse would be to pay to have the charging port replaced, assuming my account would still be up-and-running on my former laptop, and return this new one to the store.
Thanks for your patience if you read all this, and... Any ideas???
This was discussed before. Basically and unfortunately you are SOL. A new Gmail account might be on the horizon for you!
Read the first article as it tells you what you should do prior to finding yourself in this rather "bad" position but further down, it will point you to the same "Account Recovery" page/steps Google help does: https://www.theverge.com/22601959/gm...locked-account
It sounds like these people forgot or wrongly entered passwords, which I didn't. It also sounds like they at least got as far as the security question portion, which I also didn't...
Why? Also, why go from accepting my phone number (but then why didn't I get a call) to not accepting it? Maybe Google doesn't have to make sense; there's nothing any of us can do about it.
But wow; it does seem pretty hopeless. How about an option to make Google less secure (I personally don't even care about that) and more user-friendly? Because I would choose that.
So should I just repair my old laptop and HOPE it will it still be there and come up automatically as it always did before?
I'm ASSUMING there will then be evident some way to change my email to reflect my current one and thus prevent this from happening again. Correct?
I unfortunately recently destroyed my laptop's charging port by catching my foot in the cord and yanking it to one side, presumably severing the wires, because it's now very loose and doesn't charge. I'm told by the young tech repair person that it would be quite a costly repair for a very old machine and "not worth it," so I bit the bullet and bought a new one.
Because I'd kept a written list of all my user names and passwords, logging on to my usual sites (including this one) was a fairly painless process -- until it came to Google.
1) It appears I created the account using my work email (dumb, I know), and now that I'm retired, that address is defunct. I either never thought of changing it to a personal email (I retired rather "abruptly") or never figured out how to do so if the idea ever did occur to me.
2) It asks for my email address and says it will send a security code to it. What good does that do me if I can't break into my email? Obviously, I won't be able to see it! Makes no sense.
3) It then asks for my password which, like that for every other account, I'd written down, and tells me it's wrong. I'm then forced to click on "try another way."
4) It then asks for my phone number, which at first it accepted, asking if I preferred the security code phoned in or texted to me. I chose "text" and got nothing; hit "resend" and got nothing; then chose "call" and got nothing; hit "resend" and got nothing. Multiple times: lather, rinse, repeat.
5) After a couple of days of that, it now refuses to accept the same phone number, telling me it's "wrong." Hello, it's the only phone number I've ever had since leaving my childhood home's land line, so I don't think so! At this point I'm really getting aggravated.
6) So I click "try another way" or whatever again. It tells me to "answer as many questions as possible," but - OOPS - I don't see any questions, and there's no link to any questions, which I can only assume I answered at the time I created the account if I were prompted to do so and, if I could now access them, that might potentially result in recovery. I go "account recovery page," and there's zero help to be had there.
5) Finally, after I've fiddled with it for a while, it tells me I've exhausted all my possible attempts and am locked out for the next 24 hours. I've repeated this process four times now.
No one I've asked has been able to help me with this; the only advice is "call Google" which seems futile.
I've had to create another email account with another server (?) and, yes, I could just use that from now on, but my Gmail had archived emails of great sentimental value which, again unfortunately, I never got around to printing out. I feel my only recourse would be to pay to have the charging port replaced, assuming my account would still be up-and-running on my former laptop, and return this new one to the store.
Thanks for your patience if you read all this, and... Any ideas???
I had the same issue in February. I went to the library to let the DMV know that both my husband and myself were moving and needed an address change. He remembered his password but for some reason I couldn't remember which one I had since Google had made me change it a couple of times. His went through without a hitch but at some point Google locked me out. I tried over the next few months repeatedly to try different methods that Google asked for but nothing worked. I gave up trying but had gotten a new email address in the interim. Trouble is I lost mail and email addresses that I had forgotten to write down. Good luck.
It sounds like these people forgot or wrongly entered passwords, which I didn't. It also sounds like they at least got as far as the security question portion, which I also didn't...
Why? Also, why go from accepting my phone number (but then why didn't I get a call) to not accepting it? Maybe Google doesn't have to make sense; there's nothing any of us can do about it.
But wow; it does seem pretty hopeless. How about an option to make Google less secure (I personally don't even care about that) and more user-friendly? Because I would choose that.
So should I just repair my old laptop and HOPE it will it still be there and come up automatically as it always did before?
I'm ASSUMING there will then be evident some way to change my email to reflect my current one and thus prevent this from happening again. Correct?
I was going to comment on the laptop issue but was kinda sidetracked.
OK, what make/model exactly is the laptop so we can easily look up to see if the DC port is soldered or removable type whether it is a single screw/connection or bridged?
If it is a removable type which typically involved removing a tiny Phillips screw and disconnecting a single power connector so you might even tackle it yourself.
Also, what Windows version was running on that machine?
If Windows 10/11, they're very flexible with switching to a new set of device drivers on the fly so you could just remove the hard drive (whether it is an HDD or something else) and put it in another laptop or even desktop (make sure to disconnect at least one of the wires connected to the existing hard drive in that computer so you just have the old one in use) and then fire up the machine, it should be able to install all drivers for all the new devices on the new computer. At the very least, all you need is network device drivers.
Then login to Windows, visit Gmail. To change the recovery phone/email, you will need to get into the related section. If you go via the way of Clicking on your profile avatar and then select "Manage Account" it is likely to prompt you to enter your password again. I am not certain but instead, if you click on the Gear icon and click on "see all settings" link then select the "Accounts and Import" tab, at the very top, you should see "Password recovery options", click on that link and it should hopefully take you to the related page without require a re-enter of the password.
If you are able to get the drive working on another computer or get the broken laptop fixed, another, possibly better option might be is to look up your password!
If using Google Chrome and no 3rd party extensions to manage your account creds, Google Password Manager must have your password stored. From Chrome's 3 vertical dots on the right top corner, select SETTINGS > Autofill and Passwords > Google Password Manager > (locate Gmail from the list and select it) > Password will be dotted, click on the "Show password" icon to the right of it to reveal it.
I dunno, these are just some of the things that popped into my head but yeah, using the hard drive and booting to it in a working machine would probably be the best approach unless someone can come up with something more pratical....
Is the battery on the old machine completely dead? If you have enough to get into your Google account from there, maybe you could get in and change recovery email and set text number. I’m just trying to find a way to help.
The not getting a text thing is what I'd focus on first. This works. It works all the time. I get these every time. They don't just ...not send the text message.
What phone are you on? Does your text msg app have a "Spam block" feature? It's gotta be going somewhere.
Can you ask for a call instead?
It's a Dell Latitude E6430, I think (would have to check; don't have with me), I'm told about 12 years old. I, too, wondered if I couldn't just buy another used one, same model or similar, remove the hard drive from this one, put it in there and be good to go. But, again, I'm not tech-savvy and know nothing about all this.
Yes, the battery is completely dead. However, again, could I buy a similar model that uses the same battery and just insert that into the now dead original laptop to retrieve my stuff?
I have no idea why I wouldn't get a text, as I got a security code texted from Yahoo and get spam all day long. I did request a call, and didn't get that either. Again, trying multiple times. Now I don't even get that prompt, as they've decided my phone number is fake, too.
I have worked on these before. Bad news is the tech lied to you about it being a major issue/cost but sadly, shops gotta make a living so much like a car mechanic, even replacing a relatively simple $15 part could lead to a $200 repair bill.
Removing the bottom cover should also be fairly straightforward (8-10) tiny screws, more than likely Phillips but I don't recall for certain.
The reason I'd push for replacing the DC port is that you'd have your laptop back in the same working condition as before and will have the best chance of getting you into Gmail/Google account settings.
If unsure, ask local PC shops how much they would charge just to replace it if you brought the new part in.
If you had a few shots of Wild Turkey and get the urge to tackle this rather doable task yourself, then take a peek at this How2 video on YouTube.
Good luck.
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