r/GMail

I've been reading about all these people losing access to their google account and started looking into ways to be as prepared as I can in case it should ever happen to me (or my wife). This is what I've done so far:

My recovery email is not a gmail address. It's at a domain I've owned for decades.

Went through the security stuff and set my wife as trusted contact and all of the stuff you can do inside that security "worksheet"

Went to Google Takeout and downloaded my Subscriber Information which has the exact timestamp/datestamp for when the account was created

Downloaded the 10 backup codes

Ordered a pair of YubiKeys (hardware keys) which will be set up for both accounts when they arrive today.

How much is enough? I mean... I'm old and we've become VERY Google-centric. Losing an account wouldn't just be an inconvenience. Anything else I can do to ensure the best level of safety and preparedness?

I’m trying to add a recovery number to an old google Gmail email but the only way I have access to the email is from the mail app (NOT the Gmail app or for google itself) my question is how do I do that when it won’t show me the sign in and security button? Please help !!

another question Is there a way to reset the password without logging out or knowing the old password? (The email is so old it does not have a recovery email or 2 times authentication it’s VERY old )

Hello, I know gmailify is dead but is there any way to send email as an outlook.com account? it looks like the STMP fails with both the normal password and app password settings.

I want to send emails from gmail as outlook.com, forward to gmail is pretty straight forward.

Hello,

So back in the beginning of June my email was hacked from a session grabber. Took weeks of bugging YT support but I finally recovered the account a couple weeks ago but now I’m having other issues. No matter how many times I review the critical security stuff it still says my account is at risk. Whats worse is every week or so Google automatically removes my 2FA pathways to recover my account like my recovery email, phone number, authenticatior, ect. Has anyone experienced this and any way to get my account back to normal so this doesn’t keep happening? Scares the crap out of me every time it does.

I tried emptying trash, I logged out and back in. I use chrome to access gmail directly to the site. It was saying are you sure you want to close this page, blablah not saved yet, now it says nothing and just restores mail constantly. Not sure what else to do.

I set up a gmail account years ago, using a phone number. I no longer have that phone number.
I tried signing into that gmail account (I remember the password) but it told me that I needed to confirm a code that was sent to the phone number used to set it up.
Now Gmail will not let me sign in.
What do I do now? Does google seriously expect people to retain all their phone numbers for the rest of their lives? These rules are RIDICULOUS.

Is there a better way to be able to see all the emails from one sender on mobile? Ok the desktop your able to right click and select “See all emails from this sender” how can I do that on my iPhone?

Hey,

I’ve been tightening up my digital security lately and just went through my Google account’s sign-in settings. Here’s where I’m at :

• 2-Step Verification (on)
• Passkey set up
• Strong password
• “Skip password when possible” enabled
• Authenticator app (OTP through 1Password)
• 10 backup codes generated and stored safely in 1Password

Not yet set up:

- Recovery phone number
- Recovery email (currently unverified)
- Recovery contacts
- Google Prompt
- 2-Step Verification via phone
- Enhanced Safe Browsing (not enabled in Chrome)

Where I’m hesitant:

I’ve read a lot about SIM swapping being a real risk with SMS-based recovery/2FA, so I’ve been avoiding adding a recovery phone number, thinking it might introduce a weak point rather than close one. Same logic made me skip “2-Step Verification phone” as an option.

I’m also unsure about Enhanced Safe Browsing — I get that it improves malware/phishing detection, but I assume it means sending more browsing data to Google in exchange. Not sure if that tradeoff is worth it for someone who isn’t super exposed (I don’t work in a sensitive field, just a regular user trying to be careful).

My actual questions:

1. Is skipping the recovery phone a smart move given the SIM swap risk, or am I overthinking it since it’d only be used as a last resort (not an active 2FA method) ?

2. Is an unverified recovery email actually a real risk, or low priority since I already have passkey + OTP + backup codes as my main methods ?

3. Anyone actually use Google Prompt day to day ? Worth turning on ?

4. Enhanced Safe Browsing worth the privacy tradeoff, or is regular Safe Browsing good enough for a normal user ?

5. Is there anything in this list that you’d consider mandatory rather than optional, given what I already have active ?

Trying to get my setup as close to “solid but not paranoid” as possible. Would appreciate hearing what others have actually configured and why.

I deleted a bunch of emails in the gmail website on my computer. However, when I checked my iphone apple mail app, for some reason, some of the emails that I deleted from gmail still exist in my iphone mail app. I did clear out my trash in the gmail website and when I searched in the "all mail" folder in the gmail website for those deleted emails, those emails didn't show up, so I'm pretty sure those emails are indeed deleted and not just archived somewhere. Oddly enough, some of the emails I deleted in the gmail website have been correctly deleted in my iphone mail app, it's just that some other ones weren't correctly deleted for some reason. Also, I waited a day and those deleted emails still show up in the iphone mail app, so I don't think it's because of some syncing delay.

Does anyone know why this is happening and also know how to get the deleted mail to be deleted correctly in the iphone mail app too? I'm also concerned that maybe some of the mail didn't delete properly and that's why it's still in the iphone mail app?

Hello everybody, i was wondering is there a way for google to help me forgot my password? this is my first email i have created maybe 15 years back. it has some of the info of my old games and memories maybe.

We've all done it: hit Send, then instantly spot the typo, the wrong recipient, or realize you said "see attached" with nothing attached. Gmail's built-in Undo Send gives you 30 seconds max. I wanted more control, so I built Soft Send.

What it does:
Instead of sending instantly, Soft Send holds your email in a local queue for a delay you choose (1 min up to 1 hour). During that window you can cancel it, pause the timer, or edit it. It's "undo send", but on your terms.

It also watches for risky patterns and adds extra delay + a warning when it spots:

• A recipient you've never emailed before
• "Attached" in the body with no actual attachment
• Reply-All to a big group
• Possibly sensitive content (passwords, card numbers, etc.)
• An email written suspiciously fast (angry-email insurance 😅)

Privacy: No server, no tracking. Your email content never leaves your device except to go to Google's own Gmail API to actually send it.

Free vs Pro: Everything above is free. The one-time Pro ($14.99, no subscription) unlocks high-risk recipient lists — flag specific people (your boss, your CEO) or whole domains (a client's company) so you get a big red warning and a longer delay before an email ever reaches the wrong inbox.

Hope you find this useful, feel free to try it out and leave feedback on ->

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/mfimcohlkjphlnhokmpfdnlbfmingllf?utm_source=item-share-cb

I only have two sessions on my Gmail account: my iPhone and my iPad. I haven't used my iPad in any Google apps in a long time, but somehow, it says on my device list that it was used yesterday. I looked at my Gmail recent security activity, and there's nothing. I don't download cracked games, I don't click on links, my passwords are complicated, and I have 2FA on everything. I don't use the mail or calendar app.

I've been searching, but I can't find a similar case, I hope someone knows how this happens!

I've had a firstname.lastname@ for decades and for some reason I'm suddenly getting initial.lastname@ incidentally as well (think jane.doe for minde and j.doe for theirs). I've never registered or connected an initial.lastname and their first name doesn't resemble mine in the slightest. I've tried emailing them, but the mail just landed in my own mailbox, even with typing the address myself.

Any idea what might cause this?

I'm sure other people are having this issue, but this is ridiculous.

My phone was dropped in the lake and no longer works. I am using my fiancee's iPad to try and login to my Google account while I wait to get a new phone. I know my email address and my password, but it is requiring me to use 2 factor authentication... by approving access via a code sent to my phone. Obviously, that won't work. I try the "try another way" option and it just says "Couldn't sign you in" without any other choices.

I don't understand what else I can do. It is absolutely ridiculous that it doesn't allow me to speak with someone, to send a code to my email or my recovery email (both of which I have access to) or do anything other than send a code to my phone which I literally cannot use. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.

Hi-

I'm trying to help a family member with an identity theft issue.

It appears that someone has made a gmail account with the format involving their first name, last name, and an initial, and has been using that to switch over contact information on credit bureau accounts and attempting to do so on some of their bank accounts. The gmail account is associated with a phone number that this family member has never used, and (obviously) they did not create this account.

Does anyone know how to raise this issue with Google? It would help our efforts to get ahead of this if that account were to be locked out/deleted while we pursue other fixes (credit freezes, etc).

Appreciate your suggestions.

EDIT: since this keeps coming up, yes I know that Google hasn’t done anything wrong here. Using a Gmail account for fraud is a violation of the Gmail TOS. Just asking how to raise that TOS violation with Google

I just graduated and my school email will be shut down. It is a gmail account with a school domain. I want to transfer all of the data to a new email not associated with the school so my data is not gone. I did it when I graduated middle school, so I know it is possible, but I do not remember how I did it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am using a mac.