How to recover your Google Account (Gmail) without a password or your old number

The only way to recover a Google Account is the official recovery page: accounts.google.com/signin/recovery (or g.co/recover). Google support doesn’t recover accounts by phone, email or chat. Anyone offering that is a scammer.

In this article

1. Before you start: what improves your chances
2. Step by step
3. After you recover the account
4. If recovery didn’t work
5. Watch out for recovery scams
6. FAQ

Before you start: what improves your chances

• Use a phone or computer you’ve signed in to this account on before.
• Be in a familiar place (your home or work Wi-Fi network).
• Use the same browser you used to use.
• Have your recovery phone number and recovery email handy, if you remember them.
• Answer carefully: if you don’t know an answer, give your best guess instead of skipping it.

Step by step

1. Go to g.co/recover and enter your Gmail address (or the linked phone number).
2. If it asks for the last password you remember, enter the most recent one that comes to mind.
3. Google will offer ways to confirm your identity: a notification on a phone that’s already signed in, a code by text message to your recovery number or a code sent to your recovery email.
4. If none of these options is available, Google may ask for a contact email and review your request. The response can take a few days: also check that email’s spam folder.
5. Once confirmed, create a new, strong password.

After you recover the account

1. Run the Security Checkup at myaccount.google.com/security-checkup.
2. Check the signed-in devices and sign out of any you don’t recognize.
3. Update your recovery phone and email.
4. Turn on 2-Step Verification and create a passkey. See two-factor authentication.
5. In Gmail, review filters and forwarding (Settings › See all settings): attackers often create rules to divert emails. See email hacked: what to do.

If recovery didn’t work

• Try again from another device and network you used to use, a few days apart.
• Deleted account: Google only lets you recover recently deleted accounts. Try through the same recovery address as soon as possible.
• Work or school account (Google Workspace): your organization’s administrator resets the password, not Google.

Watch out for recovery scams

• No one from Google will ask for your password or code by phone or WhatsApp.
• Don’t pay for “account recovery services” or “hackers” who promise access: it’s a scam in the overwhelming majority of cases.
• Verification codes that arrive without you asking mean someone is trying to get in: don’t share them and change your password.

See also how to spot phishing.

FAQ

Can I recover my account with an ID document?

No. Google doesn’t ask for or verify personal ID documents to recover regular accounts.

My Microsoft account (Outlook, Hotmail) is locked. Is it the same?

The process is similar, but on Microsoft’s page. See Microsoft account locked.