Perhaps it serves me right for putting all my eggs in one basket. Almost all my mail was coming in to my main Gmail account. It still is, as a matter of fact, but I just can’t get to it.
Earlier today, I logged out of my gmail account and into another one of my accounts to check some news alerts I allow to collect there. I think it was around that time that I found I couldn’t get back into the account I use most. I didn’t get any error messages; not even a red wrong password alert. All I got was back to the login page. with a bit of a difference. My id is keyed in and there’s no “Remember me on this computer”. The password field was blank but every time I keyed that in, it would come back to the login page.
1. I went through all the “Can’t access your account” options. Reported it to Google, but well… who knows if they’ll get back.
2. I managed to get to the account settings and even reset my password. Ddin’t help
3. I still can log in and out of my GTalk, though not Picassa albums.
4. I tried to get into my main gmail account from other browsers, other pcs. Didn’t work. I cleared cache and temp and so on.
5. I can log into other gmail accounts from my pc.
6. Another person at the office seemed to report a similar problem. I didn’t see it myself though
So where oh where is my Gmail acocunt!
People will have to email me at mala at pobox dot com or mala at malabhargava dot com.
March 25, 2009
Oh Mala this really sucks!
Such moments make me shiver thinking of my Mum, who – a complete technology boycott – takes joy in predicting how “everything” will break down one day.
March 25, 2009
I remember having the same issues with my gmail account awhile back. Not sure how I resolved it. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t like to use that account.
March 25, 2009
This is scary, cause i also use gmail for everything! Is there a way of backuping up the stuff on gmail?
March 25, 2009
Are you serious Tami, you had the same problem? It’s not a common problem and is unlisted in the solutions given – so are you sure it was the same thing? See the screenshot. Coming back to the login page… it’s like it doesn’t remember the password even while you’re putting it in. It gives no errors though and comes back to the login page. Try and remember how it became okay, if is the same thing!
Yes, I think relying on one mail id alone when the mail is stored somewhere else is probably not a good idea. Enable POP3 and pull the mail from gmail into Thunderbird.
I can’t tell you guys how disoriented I feel without my mail. Contacts, receipts and all sorts of other things I needed to put away somewhere safe are there. I hope I get them back.
March 26, 2009
I am pretty sure that is what it was like. I am trying to remember how I got back in. It was quite some time ago. Maybe I blocked it out because it was so frustrating. I had a blogspot blog attached to it so it was especially so.
March 26, 2009
Think through some possibilities and tell me! Currently no one’s been able to fix it.
March 26, 2009
If you still have Google Talk try clicking on the envelope icon?
March 26, 2009
Yes, I eagerly did that yesterday. It goes straight to the login screen and we’re back where we started.
March 26, 2009
This may sound dumb, but try accessing mail.google.com directly. I’ve had a problem in the past where I got into a loop like this on authentication, and going to the main address rather than any other link, got me in OK. Not being able to get in from other browsers/PCs is freaky, though
March 26, 2009
Hi Phil…
Did you mean type mail.google.com and then see what I get? I tired. For a moment I thought you’d hit upon the solution. It seemed to take longer. But then… back to the login screen. I guess i goof it was tied to this PC or browser it would be different, but it seems to be the same from different PCs and different countries!
Meanwhile, the Google guys here were contacted but so far have offered to make me go through a process of answering identification questions and reset my password. The point is I can reset my password any time. I can also see the headers of the mail from an RSS feed link. Much of it is junk, of course, but hey, I want all my bill receipts! and the login name which I’d never get again.
The amazing thing is how traumatic this is. I LIVE in my laptop, so obviously not being able to access my primary mail account is like… well… I won’t say it, I may have a black tongue!
March 27, 2009
I was able to get into my wife’s account by using the following URL:
https://mail.google.com/mail
I did reset the password prior, and it said the password was not strong enough, so I reset it again by adding 1 to a number in the password (wierd). You may not have to do this.
Good luck.
March 27, 2009
Google support did get me to reset my password, very carefuuly. The access to the password resetting bit seems to be still there. I reset it, but so far everything in the world leads back to that awful login screen you see in the picture – name shows and password field goes blank.
March 29, 2009
You could try these steps (if you haven’t already): http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=48598
Basically, it may help to clear your cache (history and cookies). If it doesn’t, then perhaps
Another possibly helpful link is: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=46346&src=top5&lev=answer
That will ask a series of question towards helping you find a resolution.
The final though may be checking your email address against some type of list. My wife had to do this recently as she had the same symptoms you’ve described. Ultimately she had to enter her email address, verify her information, and use captcha to validate. I don’t have the link to the google site, but perhaps someone in this forum may know what site I’m talking about.
I hope you find this useful… good luck.
March 29, 2009
Hi,
This wasn’t tied to my computer, so cache etc would not have worked. Actually cache, temp folder, answering the Google Support questions: that’s the first thing I did. This was some absolutely unique problem. Finally, after 3 days, the Google guys fixed it! I was able to get to them through contacts at Google India. Phew! They’re not telling me what the problem was.
Well, I’m never leaving my mail unbacked up again! This was not funny!
May 22, 2009
I have had this problem for about a month….
Just now,I turned off my firewall (CA Antivirus) and got right in….
May 23, 2009
Probably a different cause from my gmail lockout though because mine wouldn’t get logged into from any computer. Google guys had to fix it~
June 10, 2009
Check to make sure your login details are case sensitive.
I had the same problem and it was as simple as that I had the caps key pressed in error. when I returned to lower case lettering problem silved.
September 30, 2009
Help! My boyfriend is having the same problem. He can access his gmail account from my computer but not his. He has vista. Does anyone think that may have something to do with it. I have tried everything mentioned in this forum, nothing works. Any help will be appreciated.
September 30, 2009
Hi,
Well, it isn’t the same problem at all actually because in my case you couldn’t access the gmail account from any computer. Not unless you were working at Google and knew how to get in and even that took some work.
If it’s just from one computer then there’s a bunch of things likely. Clear a cache and clean up and try again
December 24, 2009
I lost my gmail acccount and I want it back, as I nnow I have a ot of in messages. What shall I do?
January 7, 2010
Did you follow the steps Google suggests, Phylis?