If no matter how hard you try, you can't log in with your Google account, you'll know how frustrating it can be to be left out of your email. Luckily, there are several methods to recover your password. However, not all of them will be available depending on how careful you have been when creating and setting up your account.
First of all, don't panic. The account is yours, and therefore you should be able to recover it with more or less effort. Before you write it off and start creating a new account and assuming a new identity, try the following methods. All of them start from the same starting point, click on Forgot your password ? after entering the wrong password.
- Recover by typing the last password
Sometimes it can happen that you have changed your Google password, and you do not remember what you have put, but what you had before. Or maybe you had an old password written down, but not the new one. The password recovery form asks you if you remember the last password you used on your account.
This first step does not solve anything for you beyond providing additional information to Google about whether it is you or not. If you remember the password, write it down and press Next, but if you have no idea, it is better that you press Try another way because a random word would only make you subtract points from what is your account.
- Recover with your Android mobile
If you have an Android phone where you have set up this Google account, you can use it to prove that it is you. This is generally the second step on the form to recover your Google password. Press Yes, and you will receive a window on your mobile asking you if you are trying to log in.
Start session
You have to answer Yes so that your identity is confirmed on the PC on your mobile, and then you can choose a new password. In some cases, you will be prompted to select a certain number on your mobile to verify that it is you.
- Recover by SMS or call
If the above option is not available (for example, you registered your account with a landline number, you use a non-Android mobile, or your Android has some time), you can still use your phone to confirm your identity. In this case, it can be through an SMS message or a call.
In both cases, the result is the same: you will receive a code that you must enter in the form. If you choose SMS, you will receive it by SMS, and if you decide to call, an automatic system will contact you and dictate the code. Enter the code, press Next, and you will be able to change the password.
- Recover with an alternate email
If you don't have a phone registered to that Google account, you could still get your account back using an alternate email. This is an email address that you chose when you created your account precisely for occasions like this. If you have an alternative email, press Send to receive the code that will allow you to verify that it is you.
As in the previous methods, you will receive a code that will help you show that you: in this case, at that alternative email address. When you have the code, write it back in the form, and you can change your password.
- Recover with security question
I'm not going to lie to you; if you've come this far and none of the above methods has worked, it doesn't look too good. However, you have one last bullet: the security question. When registering your account, you were able to choose a security question and its answer. If you remember it, write it down and click Next. You must then add additional information before continuing.
The security question is not enough by itself to recover your password because someone who knows you enough could guess it. Therefore, after clicking Next, you must also add the date you created your account, month and year. I find it an enormously tricky question, so try to get as close to the date as possible.
- If all of the above fail
When none of the previous methods has served you, you will reach the last page of the form. Here you can only put another email that you can check, either from Google or another. You must verify it after clicking Next because Google will send you an email there with a code to determine that it is an account under your control.
Google will write you to this email if it determines that the account is yours, indicating the following steps, although if it does not have enough information about it, it will simply say, "I'm sorry, but no". Unfortunately, Google does not have an email address that you can use to speak to a human being to assist you in the process, so you will have to struggle with the above methods until you can recover your account. Good luck.
Note: If you are trying to recover the forgotten Google password from your mobile, here you can see the instructions to follow.
