Unable to recover Google account – help

Has anyone any idea how to best recover my Gmail account?

Following a comedy of errors I’ve lost the phone number linked to my account so unable to login via the 2FA.

There is no recovery email set or obvious way to reset it.

I know the password but have no device which has accessed the account before.

Anyone have any ideas? Obviously I’m very stuck without it.

Did you use an Authenticator app as your 2FA? If so and it was backed up you may be able to restore it on another device.

if you were just using text message/phone call then maybe use the “I can’t access this device right now” (or similar wording) button on the login screen.

I know the password but have no device which has accessed the account before.

You have never looked at your mail using webmail, ever?

Do you not have a set of the 8 digit 2FA backup codes recorded anywhere? You’ll have been promoted to do so when you set up 2FA.

Sorry, I realise this is just rubbing salt in the wound if you haven’t!

You may have lost it for good, i learnt this the hard way a few years ago. Even with it logged into the account on one laptop, it wouldn’t let me change my password and trying to get in touch with customer service was useless as they just said they didn’t believe i was who i said i was.

Support via the Google One app is usually pretty good i.e. a person not a bot so can help out if possible

If you try and login in via a web browser on a desktop (not app), there is usually a ‘verify another way’ option.