Quick Guide to Recover a Deleted Google Account or Gmail

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: March 31, 2023 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to recover a deleted Gmail account within two days of deleting it. Keep in mind that you usually cannot recover a deleted Gmail account after two days.

Steps

1
Open the Google recovery page. Go to https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery in your browser. This will open a page with a text field.
- Act fast. After deleting a Gmail account, you only have a maximum of two business days to recover the account.^{[1]
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- This is different than the recovery period for Google accounts, which is between two and three weeks.
2
Enter your email address. Type in the address for the Gmail account that you deleted.

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3
Click Next. It's a blue button below the text field.
- If you see a message here that says your email doesn't exist or has been deleted, you cannot recover your Gmail account.
4
Enter your password. In the text field that's in the middle of the page, enter the password for your email address.
5
Click Next. It's below the text field.
6
Click Continue when prompted. Doing so will take you to the account creation page, where you can reinstate your old email address.
7
Review your account information. You should see your old email address here, along with your phone number and your recovery email address. If everything looks up-to-date, you can proceed.
- If need be, you can update aspects of your account here before proceeding.
8
Click Submit. It's a blue button below the account information section.
9
Enter a phone number. In the text field in the middle of the page, type in a phone number at which you can receive a text message.
- If you don't have a text message-capable phone, you can check the "Call" box on this page before continuing. This will allow Google to call the number rather than texting to it.
10
Click Continue. It's near the bottom of the page. Google will send to your phone a text message with a verification code in it.
11
Retrieve your verification code. Open your phone's Messages app or section, open the text from Google, and review the six-digit code in the message.
- If you chose to have Google call you, take the call, then write down the code as it's dictated to you.
12
Enter the verification code. On your computer, type the code into the text field in the middle of the page.
13
Click Continue. It's below the verification code field. As long as the code is correct, this will recover your email account and take you back to the Google account page.
14
Open your Gmail account. Go to https://www.gmail.com/ in your browser. This will open the inbox for the formerly deleted account, though you may have to log into the account first.

Community Q&A

Question

If my account has been deleted for a long time, is it possible to create another account with the same Gmail address?

Community Answer

No. It's not possible. Google keeps the email and prevents you from creating an account with that username.
Question

Can I recover an account I deleted six months ago?

Community Answer

No, you probably cannot. You may try, but there's a very low chance that it's recoverable.
Question

I have lost my mobile number as well as forgetting my Gmail password. Can I still recover my account?

Community Answer

You can add a recovery email to your account where they can email you a temporary password to recover your account. You can reset your password from there.

Warnings

Never delete a Gmail account if you aren't prepared to lose absolutely everything associated with it, including emails, contacts, YouTube data, and Google Drive files.

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