This is embarassing, as I am (in theory) an IT professional.
Last year, I was hospitalised, with a disease that causes serious memory problems (Wernike-Korsakov).
On discharge, I found I had forgotten my gmail account password. OK, there is a way to recover the account. In fact several ways. But…
expecting either my memory or just muscle memory to work, I have a complex password. I do use software to remember passwords, but I specifically set it so it would not remember either gmail or my bank, the two most important accounts in my life
this is a fatal flaw. I own a personal domain. At some point I redirected all traffic to gmail. I forgot to change the “reset” email address. The reset email address directs to gmail, so when they send me a password reset email, it automatically redirects to the very gmail account I am locked out of.
2.b) that domain is suspended, so I can’t even use that domain’s admin area to read my mails.
Using the suggestions in the “try another way” dialog, I can have the details sent to my phone number, but they never arrive. Not sure if this is supposed to be an SMS or a push notification.
3.b) My ex-wife’s phone number is listed as an alternative choice to send the details to, and she gets a code I am supposed to enter, but if I follow through, I immediately get to a screen asking for my password, the very thing I cannot remember.
my phone was stolen. One thing gmail uses is a system of trust, if you have logged in succesfully on this specific device, you probably are who you say you are. But this is a new phone, nothing links it to the old one from Google’s perspective.
my laptop, which is a trusted device, is refusing to charge, so I can’t use it to reset the password.
I know all of this is for my protection, but it is incredibly frustrating…
(P.S. sorry about the list formatting. It seems unfixable)
It might, but it has been supended for several months now. Due to the disease, I have been unemployed (and probably unemployable) for about a year, and without access to gmail to see the status of the domain hosting - which is very much suspended. I can’t afford to “unspend” it due to unemployment.
It is a stupid problem, entirely of my own making with a bunch of “catch-22s” thrown in for good measure.
If the laptop has been off for a long time, the battery may have died and needs to be replaced. If it’s a common laptop, you might be able to take it to a local computer repair shop or discount computer reseller. They might happen to have a compatible battery they could swap in to test it out. If it is a bad battery, you might be able to find a cheap battery on ebay or amazon.
Is this a password you have had a long time? If so it is possible a long time ago your method of remembering passwords was entering them in a text file which you also printed out and posted near your computer. Browse through your documents directory and backups. It may be under a title Passwords or something else which jogs your memory. Or the printed paper may still be around your house somewhere.
Macbook Pro 2019, until recently working fine. I am right now using a different cable and charger in a different to normal USB port with fingers crossed that the problem lies in one of the cheaper options…
I tried on my phone (Android, not that it matters) on a network where I have successfully connected in the past, but perhaps there is a time-limit to trust.
I had a problem with getting a code recently - turns out that unknown to me, an update had added “spam” and “unknown senders” folders to the Messages app and that’s where the codes ( I must have tried 10 x) were.