Gmail login issue

[Apple fanboy]

Hi All. Wondering if the clever people on here can help where Google support have not been able to for the last month or so....

So I'm having trouble logging into my gmail account. My set up has been (for years!). Login via my iPhone 12 or my Mac Mini 2018 using Safari browser. (I should say at this point my gmail is not my primary account which is why I don't use AppleMail. That said it would be a real pain if I lost it, as I do have some important stuff going there.

So I know my email address. I know my password (after all isn't that what a password manager is for!), I know my recovery email address.

I do not have 2 factor recovery or a mobile number connected to this account. I can't add one (and neither can Google apparently!) either as it can't verify the account belongs to me.

These are the steps I have tried. Logging in on my Mac mini, my iPhone and my iPad (which I had never used with gmail before).
If I say I have forgotten my password it says they can't verify it's me.
If I say I have forgotten my email address it DOES send a recovery code to my recovery email, but that doesn't get me verified either.

Although I am not logged in, myaccount@google.com recognises who I am and my devices (see screen shot)

I can read and reply to emails on my iPhone as I'm sort of logged in enough to see those, but not logged in enough to modify anything. Have tried the gmail app, Google Chrome as well and not made any difference.

After my second support case call the guy tells me they really can't help and my best bet is to raise a support case which goes through to the developers. I've done that and been told NOT to try and log back in for 72 hours. Not sure if that's just when the guy breaks up on holiday! But it is getting frustrating.

Any one had something like this or have any suggestions? Nothing in the emails I can see would suggest I've been hacked in anyway. All looks as you would expect in terms of traffic.

 

[KaliYoni]

Do any of the suggestions or sources served up by Perplexity (a generative AI search engine, in case you’re not familiar) explain what’s going on with your account?

Perplexity

Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine that provides accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question.

www.perplexity.ai

I have a similar situation with one of my Gmail accounts. I have a seldom used account that does not have a phone number associated with it. I also think the account is so old that authenticator app-based 2FA wasn’t available when I set it up. When I tried to login recently after not using it for many, many months, Google accepted my user name and password but asked for a phone number to finish logging in. I didn’t go any further because I don’t want my phone number on an account that I set up for a single purpose. There also was a message from Google saying it was unable to verify my login using any of the methods offered by the “Try Another Way” link.

So I’ll probably end up abandoning the account (it sounds like that’s not an option for you).

 

[maflynn]

These are the steps I have tried. Logging in on my Mac mini, my iPhone and my iPad (which I had never used with gmail before).
If I say I have forgotten my password it says they can't verify it's me.
If I say I have forgotten my email address it DOES send a recovery code to my recovery email, but that doesn't get me verified either.

This may be a risky proposition, since your iPhone sort of works, did you try just changing your password - not going through the password recovery system. Its risky because you don't want to make matters worse.

Also you mentioned about not adding 2FA, are all 2FA methods non-functioning? On my gmail account I use the google authenticator app, which spits out a number combination every x number of minutes - did you try that?

Login via my iPhone 12 or my Mac Mini 2018 using Safari browser.

Have you tried accessing your google account/gmail via chrome or even firefox on your Mini? Also did you try clearing your cookies on your Mini and retrying?

If you can access your gmail account on your iphone via safari then maybe exporting to mbox format could be helpful and save it to icloud (for eventual import to another email service or client.)

I don't know if this is accurate, but this is what chatgpt is telling how to do it

• Open Safari or another browser on your iPhone.
• Go to Google Takeout
• Sign in with your Gmail account
• Select Mail (and any other Google data you want).
• Choose the export format and delivery method (you can get a download link via email).
• Download the .zip/.mbox file to your iPhone or cloud storage.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Do any of the suggestions or sources served up by Perplexity (a generative AI search engine, in case you’re not familiar) explain what’s going on with your account?

Perplexity

Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine that provides accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question.

www.perplexity.ai

I have a similar situation with one of my Gmail accounts. I have a seldom used account that does not have a phone number associated with it. I also think the account is so old that authenticator app-based 2FA wasn’t available when I set it up. When I tried to login recently after not using it for many, many months, Google accepted my user name and password but asked for a phone number to finish logging in. I didn’t go any further because I don’t want my phone number on an account that I set up for a single purpose. There also was a message from Google saying it was unable to verify my login using any of the methods offered by the “Try Another Way” link.

So I’ll probably end up abandoning the account (it sounds like that’s not an option for you).

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately none of the solutions were a fix for me. Most of them were either about setting up a new account or things I couldn't do. Basically it seems it's a common problem with lots of people in the same boat.

 

[Apple fanboy]

This may be a risky proposition, since your iPhone sort of works, did you try just changing your password - not going through the password recovery system. Its risky because you don't want to make matters worse.

Also you mentioned about not adding 2FA, are all 2FA methods non-functioning? On my gmail account I use the google authenticator app, which spits out a number combination every x number of minutes - did you try that?


Have you tried accessing your google account/gmail via chrome or even firefox on your Mini? Also did you try clearing your cookies on your Mini and retrying?

If you can access your gmail account on your iphone via safari then maybe exporting to mbox format could be helpful and save it to icloud (for eventual import to another email service or client.)

I don't know if this is accurate, but this is what chatgpt is telling how to do it

So I can't change anything like my password etc as I am not logged in (even though I sort of am on my iPhone).

Tried alternative browsers and devices.

I will set up 2FA if I can get in for sure and I'm defiantly thinking about moving my accounts to a separate domain.

The fact that I have a recovery email address and can receive a recovery code, but still Google can't verify its me is the most frustrating part.

 

[BigBlur]

I have a similar situation with one of my Gmail accounts. I have a seldom used account that does not have a phone number associated with it. I also think the account is so old that authenticator app-based 2FA wasn’t available when I set it up. When I tried to login recently after not using it for many, many months, Google accepted my user name and password but asked for a phone number to finish logging in. I didn’t go any further because I don’t want my phone number on an account that I set up for a single purpose. There also was a message from Google saying it was unable to verify my login using any of the methods offered by the “Try Another Way” link.

So I’ll probably end up abandoning the account (it sounds like that’s not an option for you).

I pretty much had the exact same thing happen to me several months ago with my Google account (not Gmail). My Google account is my outlook.com email address.

I'd enter in my email address and password successfully.
They'd send me a 6-digit code to the email address, which I also entered in successfully.
Then they'd ask for a phone number so they can send another 6-digit code.
As soon as I put in my phone number, they'd say "Too many failed attempts" and didn't even send the code.
(Don't know why or how this proves anything; my phone number isn't on my account.)

Seriously...they know I have the correct password...they know I have access to my email in order to get the 6-digit code. Why are they asking for a phone number and then turning around to say too many failed attempts? I couldn't do anything with "Try another way" either.

Someone suggested that I stop trying to log in for a week or so to let my account cool down. I ended up waiting a couple of weeks and was able to get back in. I set up a passkey and haven't had any problems with my account since then. Not sure if this will help with OP’s situation, but it may be worth a try. I suppose it may be difficult not using Gmail for a couple of weeks, but maybe that doesn't matter.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I pretty much had the exact same thing happen to me several months ago with my Google account (not Gmail). My Google account is my Outlook email address.

I'd enter in my email address and password successfully.
They'd send me a 6-digit code to the email address, which I also entered in successfully.
Then they'd ask for a phone number so they can send another 6-digit code.
As soon as I put in my phone number, they'd say "Too many failed attempts" and didn't even send the code.
(Don't know why or how this proves anything; my phone number isn't on my account.)

Seriously...they know I have the correct password...they know I have access to my email in order to get the 6-digit code. Why are they asking for a phone number and then turning around to say too many failed attempts? I couldn't do anything with "Try another way" either.

Someone suggested that I stop trying to log in for a week or so to let my account cool down. I ended up waiting a couple of weeks and was able to get back in. I set up a passkey and haven't had any problems with my account since then. Not sure if this will help with OP’s situation, but it may be worth a try. I suppose it may be difficult not using Gmail for a couple of weeks, but maybe that doesn't matter.

They told me to leave it 72 hours and I’m sure I’ve not tried to get in for maybe a week since this started. I could leave it two weeks to see if that helps, but I’m not sure why they can’t just reset it like the old days!