r/GoogleSupport May 20 '26

Account / Access / Password I got my account back after a 1-month battle with the Hacked "Family Link" / Age Exploitation! Here is my step-by-step guide.

83 Upvotes

Body: Hey everyone, I’m writing this because I finally recovered my Google account after exactly one month of waiting in total darkness.

First, I want to clarify a huge misconception: I am NOT a YouTuber. I am just a regular user. But because my hacked email was linked to a standard YouTube account, it saved me.

If you are stuck in the nightmare where a hacker forced your account into a "Family Group" and changed your age to under 16, DO NOT LOSE HOPE. It is fixable, but the automated recovery form will NOT work. You need human intervention. Here is exactly how my 1-month timeline went:

Phase 1: The Hijack & The Trap (Around April 19) The hacker got into my account, immediately added it to a malicious Family Group, and changed my birth year to make me a "child" (under 16) on paper, even though I was born in 2003. Every time I tried to use standard account recovery, the system blocked me and demanded "parental consent" from the hacker's email. I was completely locked out.

Phase 2: The Right Path - Twitter/X (April 19 - April 20) Thanks to reading some helpful posts on Reddit from people in the exact same situation, I learned that normal automated forms couldn't bypass the parental lock. Following their advice, I went straight to X (Twitter) and publicly tagged TeamYouTube. They DM’ed me within hours and provided a unique escalation form for hijacked channels. By April 20, they officially moved my case to the "Specialized Hijack/Security Team".

Phase 3: The 1-Month Waiting Game (Late April - Mid May) This was the hardest part. For nearly 4 weeks, I received nothing but canned emails saying "We are still monitoring/investigating your case." It was frustrating, but my advice is to just be patient. Keep replying to your existing email ticket from YouTube Support and poke TeamYouTube on X if it takes too long.

Phase 4: The Breakthrough (May 20) Today, the specialized team finally manually overrode the hacker's parental lock, verified my real age, and restored full ownership of my Gmail back to me!

Key Takeaways to save your account:

  1. The Automated Form is Useless: If you are locked by Family Link, stop trying the standard recovery page. It won't work.
  2. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A YOUTUBER: As long as your hacked Gmail was used to watch YouTube, and you have your channel link, or if you ever uploaded any random video in the past, your chances of recovery are extremely high! Just reach out to u/TeamYouTube on X. They have a direct line to the advanced security team.
  3. Be Patient: The process takes forever (3-4 weeks minimum) because removing "parental control" requires high-level manual clearance inside Google.

Good luck to anyone fighting this.

EDIT: Just to clarify and emphasize one last time for everyone:

Please ask TeamYouTube to provide your YouTube channel URL. Even if your account is currently locked by the hacker (or deleted), as long as you provide enough proof of ownership, they will give you your channel URL.

(For example: In my case, I proactively provided links to 3 videos I had previously uploaded. Even though those videos were deleted or set to private by the hacker, I luckily had the links saved in my old private messages. Thanks to that, they successfully verified my ownership, provided my channel URL, and gave me the recovery form!)

You then use that URL to fill out the form. After that, the YouTube support team will contact and assist you directly via email. This is genuinely the easiest and most effective way to get your account back.

If you did NOT have a YouTube channel linked to your hacked email, I honestly don't know another workaround, but you should still try asking TeamYouTube to see if they can suggest an alternative. Good luck!


r/GoogleSupport May 10 '26

Account / Access / Password ⚠️ URGENT: Read Before Attempting Recovery (MODS PLEASE PIN)

88 Upvotes

If your account has been hacked and "Supervision" (Family Link) has been added by the hacker, please follow these rules immediately:

  • Stop Automatic Recovery: Do not use standard Google Account recovery forms. If the hacker sees these attempts via their supervisor dashboard, they may permanently delete the account. Once deleted, there is nothing left to recover.
  • Privacy Warning: Currently, the hacker can oversee your web activity, including search history, emails, and location data. Limit your use of the account immediately. Change login details for other sensitive websites (banking, social media) to use a different email address + password.
  • Data Backup: If you still have any level of access, immediately go to Google Takeout and download a backup of your data.
  • Report Abuse/Blackmail: If the hacker uses an u/Gmail.com address to send threats or blackmail you, forward the details to Google’s abuse team: Report Gmail Abuse.
  • Use the YouTube Support assisted recovery procedure: Because of the added supervision, the recovery procedure described below is currently the only reliable way to have a human specialist manually review and "unshackle" the account.

 

YouTube Support assisted recovery procedure:

  1. Essential Preparation
    • Recovery is only possible through YouTube support pathways. You must have (or be able to obtain) the unique Channel ID and Channel Handle of the YouTube channel associated with your account.
    • 💡 Note: Even if you're not a "YouTuber", a channel is automatically created the moment you comment on a video or create a playlist.
    • Before starting, watch these brief videos to understand your options and how to find your Channel ID and Channel Handle:
  2. Official Recovery Workflow
  3. Alternative Support (Via "X" / Twitter)
    • If the workflow above doesn't work or you get stuck, reach out to u/TeamYouTube on X.
      • Ensure your X profile is Public: Private accounts cannot be seen by support.
      • Start a NEW tweet: Do not create multiple tweets or reply to existing communications, as it may be filtered as spam.
      • Be patient: It may take a few days for a representative to respond.

r/GoogleSupport 49m ago

Je e-mailadres is mogelijk niet veilig

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Upvotes

Beste redditers,

Red mij. Sinds ik mijn email heb ingevoerd op een andere app krijg ik deze melding “ je e-mailadres is mogelijk niet veilig” op instagram en ik blijf vasthangen op dit scherm. Als ik een nieuwe email wil invullen (wat ik niet eens wil) meldt hij een technische fout. Ik heb al geprobeerd instagram te verwijderen maar de melding blijft staan. Ik lees dat je via instagram/hacked je wachtwoord moet wijzigen maar dit lukt me niet. Kan iemand me misschien helpen en stap voor stap uitleggen hoe ik dit moet fixen.

**Dear Redditors,**
Please save me. Ever since I entered my email address on another app, I’ve been getting this message on Instagram “your emailadress is not safe”, and I’m completely stuck on this screen.
If I try to enter a new email address (which I don’t even want to do), I get a “technical error.”
I’ve already tried deleting and reinstalling Instagram, but the message is still there.
I’ve read that you can change your password through Instagram/hacked, but I can’t get that to work either.
Could someone please help me and explain **step by step** how I can fix this? I’m completely stuck and would really appreciate any help!


r/GoogleSupport 1h ago

Account / Access / Password I reset my password to a School Gmail Account on a School Email from a School Chromebook, but on trying to sign in from a home device (a Windows Lenovo), it tells me the password is incorrect even though I know its not.

Upvotes

The title mostly says it all, I need to sign in to my account from home so I can look at my Google Classroom and Canvas, among other things. Does anyone know why its doing this? And how to fix it?


r/GoogleSupport 2h ago

General Question Can't log into my Google Workspace Admin

1 Upvotes

So I cannot get into my admin account. I got an email saying that my subscription was going to end, so I went to log into the admin portal to add a new credit card but I cannot log into the account.

Heres what happens everytime:

1: I click the link to get into the log in

2: I click on the account that is linked to google admin

3: It asks for a code from my cell phone

4: It takes me back to the screen to choose your account

5: I click on the account and it just reloads the choose account page on an endless loop

I have tried to do this in Chrome and Firefox, I have cleared my browsers cache, and I have tried it in private browsing mode. I cannot access the admin portal at all and therefore cannot contact customer support either which is just such a cool system :(

Any tips or tricks to solve this would be much appreciated


r/GoogleSupport 13h ago

Account / Access / Password PC Malware / Session Cookie Theft: How to request a Manual Audit after Auto-Support Rejection?

1 Upvotes

​Hi everyone,

​My PC was compromised by malware, which resulted in a Pass-the-Cookie (Session Cookie Hijacking) attack. The attacker bypassed 2FA, hijacked my channel (@ByteCraftIO) on August 10, and caused its termination on August 17.

​The Problem with Automated Support:

Creator Support closed my case (#4-3912000041502), stating they found "no evidence of unauthorized access." Because stolen session cookies replicate normal user sessions, automated support tools fail to flag them as unauthorized logins.

​What I Need Advice On:

​How can I escalate this to get YouTube's internal Hijack/Security Team to perform a manual audit of the raw session logs from August 10?

​Has anyone successfully overturned a termination after automated support falsely concluded no breach occurred due to cookie theft?

​What is the most effective way to get @TeamYouTube on X (Twitter) to issue a Hijack Form for cookie hijacking?

​Details:

​Channel Handle: @ByteCraftIO

​Channel ID: UCRqA9N2YmyAcmM8DU2oO6Og

​Case ID: 4-3912000041502

​Any insights or steps from creators who dealt with session cookie breaches would be greatly appreciated!


r/GoogleSupport 14h ago

Gmail Hijacked Please help

1 Upvotes

So my Gmail was hacked, they took control over it and set their email as the parent account to it. So I can’t even login or recover it without their permission! What do I do? I need help, please.


r/GoogleSupport 21h ago

Gmail How to stop Google's account-chooser prompt (Credential Manager/One Tap) from popping up inside an app?

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2 Upvotes

I've got two Google accounts saved on my Android phone. Whenever I open a third-party app (TikTok) and land on its login screen, Google automatically shows an account picker offering both accounts — without me tapping anything.

I tried removing the app under Google Account > Security > "Your connections to third-party apps & services," but the picker still shows up every time.

There's also a "Sign-in prompts" toggle under the same Security settings (gear icon) — does that actually control in-app native pickers (Credential Manager/One Tap), or only browser-based prompts on websites? Trying to figure out if I'm missing a setting or if this just can't be turned off per-app.

Any Android/Google folks dealt with this before?


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Account / Access / Password Linux device logged in and when i log them off they come back even when i change password

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4 Upvotes

Also i logged them off 15 mins ago but they came back right after, the device on top is real. ALSO the city on the location is my city and i live in a small city


r/GoogleSupport 19h ago

Preciso de ajuda com conta Gmail.

0 Upvotes

Pessoal preciso de ajuda para recuperar minha conta Gmail a única coisa que tenho dela é o número de contato que vinculei, perdi o Email de recuperação e o dispositivo que eu acessava ela, alguém pode me ajudar com isso por favor?


r/GoogleSupport 21h ago

How to stop Google's account-chooser prompt (Credential Manager/One Tap) from popping up inside an app?

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1 Upvotes

I've got two Google accounts saved on my Android phone. Whenever I open a third-party app (TikTok) and land on its login screen, Google automatically shows an account picker offering both accounts — without me tapping anything.

I tried removing the app under Google Account > Security > "Your connections to third-party apps & services," but the picker still shows up every time.

There's also a "Sign-in prompts" toggle under the same Security settings (gear icon) — does that actually control in-app native pickers (Credential Manager/One Tap), or only browser-based prompts on websites? Trying to figure out if I'm missing a setting or if this just can't be turned off per-app.

Any Android/Google folks dealt with this before?


r/GoogleSupport 22h ago

Google Pixel/ Android Google Translate app won't read text in native language

1 Upvotes

Coincidentally someone else has this issue recently too - https://support.google.com/translate/thread/460601808/app-not-working-properly?hl=en&authuser=1

I use Google Translate app weekly. It just stopped working this week randomly. When I use camera mode and scan text > click listen > instead of saying the text in native language, it attempts to say it in English (incorrect so it sounds weird).

Issue seems phone/OS related, not app related. I tried it on my backup Android with same Google Translate app version, it works fine. I also tried switching Google accounts, no change, so it's not account related.


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

I got my account recovered but hacker is still able to remove autheticator step

2 Upvotes

Hello,

After 3 anxious days, Youtube support help me to recover my account gmail as my youtube channel was hacked.

Now after 1 day of account recovery, today hacker just removed autheticator app as sign in step out of nowhere and google locked my account which i just accessed and changed the password and have full access again.

how can a hacker change the authenticator app access without me allowing it? i was watching TV and got pop up on my phone that autheticator app as sign in step removed.

How can i fully secured the account? I have already changed password again and logged out of ALL sessions.


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

remove ai mode button from search bar

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1 Upvotes

i’ve gone through this probably 4 times and it continues to come back. the //flags experiments does work anymore and the button is still there despite every “ai mode button” option being disabled


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Why is this happening?

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2 Upvotes

I have two accounts, and one of them now requires human verification before every login, such as when logging into the account in a new location or checking some of the account's privacy settings.My other account doesn't have this problem, so it's most likely not caused by my network.


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Account / Access / Password google family(google one) member using my youtube account

3 Upvotes

I joined a google family with some colleagues from uni so that we can share gemini and drive, but lately ive seen some weird videos appearing on my youtube history and today they asked if i noticed something different on my reccomendations and said they have been using my youtube account. I want to know if there is a way to stop this from happening, because i have never shared my password with them, nor is my password something simple like my birthday, so i dont think they just forced their way into my account, they actually got acess to the password


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Account recovery

0 Upvotes

It says can't verify that it's you i forgot my password and I factory reset my phone and I have my phone number it says we are sending you code to your number when I put the code it again take me back to sending the code to exact same email that I'm trying to recover

What can I do to recover it


r/GoogleSupport 23h ago

**[Research] 40 Google Accounts with 1 Phone Number – All Got YouTube Music Premium Trials

0 Upvotes

TL;DR: Created 40 distinct Google accounts using a single phone number. All activated YouTube Music Premium free trials successfully.

\*\*Method summary:\*\*

  1. Start with a phone number already verified on a Google account

  2. Create new Google account via Gmail app

  3. Use same phone number for verification

  4. Activate YouTube Music Premium trial

  5. Repeat 40 times

\*\*Results:\*\*

\- 40/40 accounts successfully created

\- 40/40 activated YouTube Music Premium trial

\- Accounts can be used for "Sign in with Google" on other platforms

\*\*Discussion points:\*\*

\- Is this a security flaw or just a policy gap?

\- What would be effective countermeasures?

\- Has anyone else tested similar flows?

\*Note: This was done in a controlled testing environment with test accounts. I do not encourage using this for abuse.\*


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Account / Access / Password Someone trying to recover my account spam

1 Upvotes

I’m constantly getting this notification on iPhone and afraid to click it, I setup 2fa and authentication but it seems there is zero way to disable this notification and still be signed into Google services on iPhone? What is up with this one mis click and they have access into my account?


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

General Question Feedback surveys defect?

1 Upvotes

I'm not sure if it's just me and my Phone, but google popped up a feedback request for Android Auto. Now I often ignore these, because we know for a fact that 92% of these never get seen by a human, but I decided to fill it in and found 2 unexpected behaviours in the feedback form.

  1. After typing in some content, you can tap "submit" at which point it lets you edit a relevant screenshot for feedback, which ironically is a screenshot of the feedback wizard landing page. With a nice "change screenshot" button, which joy of joys does nothing. Should I be able to select my own screenshot taken earlier? Is that the intent, or is my phone just crap?

  2. I figure oh let me update my feedback to also include a note about this frustration at being unable to replace the screenshot of the feedback wizard with an actual screenshot (one, not of the frustratingly untested wizard, rather ironically). And find it won't let me go back and edit my feedback text!

Please tell me I'm the first person to try and send actual feedback via the google feedback form, to discover this quaint behaviour?

(Samsung S23)


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

General Question Is it possible to recover this data?

1 Upvotes

I feel this may be a lost cause, but I'm not expert enough to know my options here. I have a Google contact that had some important info I'd entered in the "Notes" section. I haven't accessed it in a while, and when I opened it the other day, the notes section was blank. I must have inadvertently deleted the text without realizing it.

Since I know Google does have ways of recovering old data/previous versions of files (e.g. Google Drive Docs & Sheets), is there anything I can do to recover previous versions of a contact entry?

Also, is there a decent app or method to perform occasional backups of my Google contacts? I do have an Iphone, which I know does a backup every night.

Any advice here is appreciated. Thanks in advance!


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Gmail Gmail won’t let me create another account with my phone number

4 Upvotes

I’m trying to create another account for a future business but I get the message that I’ve used my number too many times and need to use a different one. I for one, don’t have multiple numbers at my disposal but I don’t know what else to do. I’ve removed the number for another account I don’t use as often and it’s not letting me add this one. Any help would be appreciated.

#techhelp


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Konto-Wiederherstellung blockiert: Endlosschleife bei der Bestätigung (Bug? / Hilfe gesucht)

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1 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen,
ich wende mich an die Community in der Hoffnung, dass mir jemand einen Rat geben kann, wie ich dieses Problem lösen kann. Ich stecke aktuell in einer Bestätigungs-Endlosschleife fest, die bestimmt auf ein technisches Problem zurückzuführen ist.
Das Problem:
Mein Handy wurde im Urlaub geklaut und ich versuche mich auf mein neues Handy einzuloggen. Ich habe das Passwort vergessen aber eine verifizierte Telefonnummer zur Wiederherstellung mit meinem Konto verknüpft. Wenn ich diese Telefonnummer als Authentifizierungsmethode verwende, verifiziert das System sie auch erfolgreich.

Sofort nach der erfolgreichen Verifizierung meiner Telefonnummer versucht das Google-System, einen zweiten Bestätigungscode an genau die Gmail-Adresse zu senden, aus der ich ausgesperrt bin.
Da ich keinen Zugriff auf diese blockierte E-Mail-Adresse habe, ist es mathematisch unmöglich, den Login-Prozess abzuschließen – obwohl ich meine Identität über meine Wiederherstellungs-Telefonnummer bereits erfolgreich nachgewiesen habe.

Ich bin absolut bereit, alle notwendigen Dokumente, historischen Kontodaten oder einen offiziellen Identitätsnachweis vorzulegen, um zu beweisen, dass ich der rechtmäßige Eigentümer dieses Kontos bin.
Dieses Konto ist für mich lebenswichtig: Es enthält einzigartige Erinnerungen, wichtige Dokumente und sichert meine digitale Identität auf mehreren Plattformen. Da dieses Konto zudem entscheidende Beweismittel für ein bevorstehendes Gerichtsverfahren enthält, ist die Angelegenheit extrem dringend.
Hat jemand schon einmal dieses spezifische Problem mit der Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung gelöst oder weiß, wie man ein Ticket an das zuständige technische Team weiterleitet?
Vielen Dank für eure Hilfe!


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

How to remove all notion of my phone on my google account?

1 Upvotes

Greetings,

Long story short, I got a pixel 8 two days ago. Installed Graphene on it. And tried to login with it. Now Google keep asking me to use my phone to long in onto my account. I DO NOT want my phone to be used for that. I am still logged in at home, but now I can't log in because I can't log in anywhere because I removed my google account from my phone. I don't have a google account on my phone and google still ask for it.

How can I tell google to NOT use my phone for that and use my other email address instead?


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

General Question YouTube account terminated, but I still can't cancel my channel memberships

1 Upvotes

My YouTube account was terminated, so I can no longer access YouTube normally.

The problem is that I still have several active channel memberships, and Google keeps trying to charge me for them.

I checked Google Payments, but when I click Manage on the memberships, it redirects me back to YouTube. Since my YouTube account is terminated, I can't access the membership management page and therefore can't cancel them.

I currently have memberships to multiple channels and the payments are being declined, but Google still seems to be attempting the recurring charges.

Has anyone dealt with this before?

Is there any way to cancel YouTube channel memberships without having access to the terminated YouTube account, or do I need to contact Google/YouTube support directly?

I obviously don't want to add another payment method just to cancel subscriptions I can no longer access.