Few things are more frustrating than having spent most of your digital life on Google, relying on Gmail to send and receive email, Google Drive for storage, Google Calendar for your appointments, and Google Photos for your photo archive. , etc. to get locked out of your google account due to a forgotten password or a nefarious hacker.
If you can’t access your google account, you could end up losing contact with your loved ones, business contacts and clients, accessing appointments and even missing important updates related to the use of the service or other services you are using. subscribed to
All of these issues could lead to massive losses that would take time to recover from, especially since Google will not let you back into your account for a certain number of days due to their security holds.
Fortunately, Google allows you to retrieve your account information, but you will need certain information such as your email address, phone number, or the date you created your account.
why your google account is locked
google takes very strict measures to ensure that its products and services operate in accordance with its security policies. If there is any unusual or suspicious activity on your Google account, it will block you from accessing any of its services. You can even temporarily suspend your account to protect it from abuse or fraud.
there are some specific activities listed in google help support that can result in blocking access to the service. this lockout can last from one minute to 24 hours, or even 30 to 40 hours depending on the type of activity detected by the system. These activities include:
- send a large amount of undeliverable email
- receive, download or delete large amounts of mail via pop or imap in a short period of time
- using your gmail account from multiple locations or devices
- inbox reload issues when using your account in a web browser
- giving access to file storage, use file sharing, browser extensions, email scanning services, or third-party software that automatically log you into your account, causing deceptive activity without your knowledge
- improperly logging into your account with the wrong password too many times.
To prevent future bans, please avoid any of the above activities and make sure your account is well-protected to prevent potential security breaches.
how to recover your google account when it is blocked
Depending on your situation, you may need to retrieve your username or password. follow the steps below to do both.
how to retrieve your google account username
If you forgot your username or email address, follow these steps to recover it.
- go to the google login page and then click need help? link.
- then click the find my account link at the bottom.
- On the forgot username screen, choose enter your recovery email address or enter your recovery phone number. enter your name then check the checkbox next to I’m not a robot and click submit.
You will receive an email or SMS with your username.
how to recover your google account password
If you know your email address or username but can’t remember your password, you can reset it by following these steps.
- go to the google login page and click the link need help?
- Type your email address, then click next.
- Type the last password you can remember, and then click next. If you need more options to help you remember, click try another question and you’ll get options like the month or year you created the account. if you have a recovery email address, it also gives you the option to receive a verification code to your recovery email address. If you don’t have a recovery email address, enter an email address or phone number to which the code will be sent.
- Type the code you receive, then click next. On the new page, type your password and type it again to confirm. then click change password.
Your password has been reset. you can try to login again. Still don’t have access to your google account? try the rest of the solutions below.
how to recover a google account with two-step verification
2-step verification adds another layer of protection for your google account. however, it will require more than just a password, as you will need another code or action to log into your account.
If you’ve enabled 2-Step Verification for your account and it’s now locked, the recovery process is a bit stricter. this can also make your efforts to regain access to your account more difficult if the account has been compromised by hackers and they have enabled two-step verification.
If you enabled 2-Step Verification when you created or set up your account, you’ll see another screen when you try to recover your account where you’ll enter a code via the default method (email or SMS) you originally used. configured. If you are unable to provide the required details, you can click the try another way to sign in link and you will get a list of all the settings configured for your account.
There is another option to ask google for help go back to your account, which also takes you to a different screen with more options.
scroll down to the bottom of the screen and you will see the link ask google for help. This process is similar to the usual account recovery steps you’d take, but you’ll be asked more questions depending on the options you’ve set up for your account earlier.
if you provide enough information, you will see thank you! we’re on it message. but if you don’t provide enough proof of ownership, you’ll get the message google couldn’t verify instead.
Google may take 3-5 business days to complete its investigation. once this is done, you will be notified via the contact address you provided. however, your request may be denied, in which case you will have to repeat the process giving more precise answers to the questions than you gave before, or google will not unlock your account.
Note: If you’ve been locked out of a g suite account, the only way to reset your password and regain access is by contacting the domain’s google app administrator.
Avoid being locked out of your account
It’s easy to lose access to your google account and there are also few resources to get it back because there is no clear system or appeals process to fix this problem. this just leaves you out with limited or no chance of getting help, especially if you don’t have any special contacts on google.
There are ways around this problem, but it means leaving nothing to chance, especially when it comes to login credentials. some important tips:
- Use a password manager to prevent your digital life from depending on remembering a password. if your browser’s password manager doesn’t help, try one of the best password manager services that will store your logins securely.
- using the google authenticator app, which allows you to confirm your logins using a randomly generated form number
- update your phone number and recovery email address
- set up more ways to log in and prove ownership account, such as setting up phone alerts, storing backup codes to log into your account, and setting up security keys
- following the last suggestion, you should also find out who your most frequent contacts are, when you created your google account, which is your recovery email address, etc. as they will ask those kinds of questions to verify your ownership.
Were you able to recover your google account using the above solutions? Share your experience in a comment below.