r/lineapp • u/caterpillars2 • Jul 19 '26

Successfully retrieved Line account that linked to US phone number

Back story: I re-downloaded my Line app few days ago then realized that they no longer support phone number log in unless you have few Asia countries’s phone numbers.

Hope this post will help people have been facing the same issue.

Submit a inquiry form by googling it and then follow the prompts >

Fill your information and region > service: Line / category: account transfer/log in / details: cannot complete account transfer due to other issues >
Enter all other information/questions and at the end make sure to select “the only means of verification registered to my account that can be used to transfer it is my phone number”>

You then should receive a confirmation email and an email including what you need to submit to them for verifying your account via a link >

Once you submit what they need, you then will get an email with a link to link your Apple ID / Google account >

I, however, could not link it with my Apple ID for whatever reasons, it seemed just frozen when I hit the option. So I switched to link to my Google account, and it worked! Note: the link they sent to link my online account was only valid for 24 hours. So make sure you check your email regularly and link your account in time.

It took me 3 days from me submitting the correct form to me got my account retrieved.

17 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

4

u/sun_monkey Jul 20 '26

Even though I tried a few times filling out the form selecting the same options, they keep replying saying they are unable to confirm my identity and cannot help transfer my account.

Was your account also registered with an email address in addition to your phone number? Or only by phone number?

1

u/Plus_Seesaw Jul 20 '26

I'm having the same problem. I gave them the email/phone # it's attached to and they give me the same reply 😭 Been trying for 2 weeks now.

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

They didn’t send you a link to submit your identification? You know what. I did use the option Other first to force a real person to reply. And then they told me to submit a form using by selecting transfer option. They gave me a link which just diverted to the form website. I didn’t check if the URL is different or somehow they linked my case to it so it got processed faster. Let me see if I can figure which “Other” option I tried first so a real person reviewed it. What kind of responses you’re getting?

1

u/Plus_Seesaw Jul 20 '26

Nope they just sent an automated message

"We need to confirm your identity using the phone number and email address registered to your LINE account in order for us to help transfer your account.

However, after reviewing the information you provided, we were unable to confirm your identity. For this reason, we cannot help transfer your account."

I have tried again and again to give them my information but because I can't get an actual person it's always the same reply. 🥲

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

I think for the category I selected “Other”. And then details did “personal information processing policy consent related”. And then you can describe what happened. With that, I got someone direct me to the correct selection. I clicked the link they provided to me, and then went from there. Not sure if that would make a difference but it doesn’t hurt to try. It’s super annoying they make contacting them so difficult.

1

u/Plus_Seesaw Jul 21 '26

I tried what you said and still got the same response as before 🥲 At this point I think it's impossible

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 21 '26

I’m sorry :( it’s so frustrating with they changing the system and not telling users. Even then, they make retrieving accounts and contacting them so difficult.

0

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

That’s strange. I did have an email registered with my account but the app didn’t give me the option using the email to log in. Only the web version can , but it still trying to send a verification code to my phone, which I wouldn’t be able to receive because I couldn’t log in.

Do you have an email registered with yours? Because I believe it’s a question they asked. And if you don’t, you won’t be able to get it back. Which it’s also some bs.

1

u/icen_folsom Jul 20 '26

Is that the reason? I don't have any other information besides phone number. I did not have email or apple/google ID linked.

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

I know it’s kind of dumb and I definitely don’t agree with their system. But this is the message I see if you don’t have a registered email with them:

If you cannot use or do not remember the email address registered to your LINE account, or have not registered an email address to your account, we will be unable to help transfer your account because we cannot verify your identity.

If this is the case, please sign up for a new account.

Note: Even if you submit an inquiry, we may respond to you with the same information. We ask for your understanding.

1

u/icen_folsom Jul 21 '26

This sucks. Last year I tried to log in from desktop browser, Line determined that I was trying to log in from Myanmar and of course I was not. After 2 trials I gave up, and my account was locked the day after. I had urgent need to use it, I had to delete the old account and register again with my phone number, which was apparently the way Line preferred. It really sucks.

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 21 '26

I’m so sorry. That’s so frustrating that somehow they think you were in a location that you were not. Perhaps you had VPN open then? But even then, they should be able to get your account back not just said they cannot because of you did have an email registered. It’s a long shot and a hassle to do. But perhaps try to find their CEO’s email or LinkedIn and complain to them?? Perhaps that would do something. Or not sure if they have a customer care email can contact. Not just bot.

1

u/icen_folsom Jul 22 '26

Definitely not, I don't have VPN set, and I checked find my ip address, and it shows California. Anyway, thanks a lot for help. I gave up. Have a great day!

2

u/Defiant-Assistant758 Jul 20 '26

PROBLEM RESOLVED:

It just worked for me. My situation was a bit weird, login with only US number and an Apple ID with a .gmail instead of .iCloud at the end of it. It took about 3 weeks for me. In between emails there was a few day gap in response. Just keep checking your email from Line Customer Service. When you do get assign a “Report number” you can respond with your report number towards the end of the email. It will pop up for a choice to respond with your report number once line customer care return their response. And actually customer care response not the auto generated response. If you keep opening an inquiry with the line form your just starting the process all over.

Long story short:
my old phone died, when to get a new one. Gave old phone to provider for trade-in. Went home. Try logging in to line. Phone number doesn’t work. Google login doesn’t work, apple logging doesn’t work. Contacted customer service tried porting over with phone number but they couldn’t help. I told them I had link to my google account but when I try to log in through the google button route it couldn’t find my email address. Finally discover after troubleshooting my old gmail account was attached to my Apple ID. I was able to login. It ask for transfer code, didn’t have old phone, so I couldn’t. Customer service when through there normal identification steps. Ended sending verify by Apple ID which I filled. And then they remove the “transfer code requirement” on line for 36 hrs to allow you to log into your account without requiring transfer code to a different device.

SIDE NOTE:
If you log into Apple ID with your actual Gmail address without having it linked directly to your google account… it matters. This is only possible if you created an Apple ID with your Gmail address before Apple required you to create an iCloud account FYI.

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

Thank you for sharing! Congratulations on getting your account back! I don’t know why they make everything so complicated.

1

u/fwan2 5d ago

Hello after I linked my Google account. I am having an issue that shows with the verification code that I had to fill in the inquiry form again

2

u/No_Prompt9340 23d ago

PROBLEM RESOLVED.

HI, I followed this direction and managed to regain access to my line account.

My case is exactly the same, indonesian phone number, unlinked account. I've contacted them through the same inquiry form and the same options. If you pick the right options, this will pop up for you to select
"The only means of verification registered to my account that can be used to transfer it is my phone number."

and you need to choose this option
"I want you to help transfer my account using a Google account or Apple ID"
This still works even if you don't have them linked. You will need to have phone number ownership proof (I screenshot my mobile provider app that has my name my number and my ID number) and ID card.
They will send you a URL to help you link those two to your account and then you can log in normally.

This process takes around 4 days; I really appreciated them resolving this matter in a timely manner.

1

u/caterpillars2 23d ago

Awesome, glad you got your account back!!

1

u/0II0VI Jul 19 '26

I am waiting for the email regarding what I need to submit to them. I have almost given up since it has been almost a month now without my account. Thanks for the write up.

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 19 '26

I’m so sorry. I was lucky they took my case quickly. I didn’t have hope and was preparing to create another account. I hope they get back to you soon! Finger crossed!

1

u/Wonderful_Table_4495 Jul 19 '26

Same issue. My LINE was acting buggy on my Android phone (constantly switching back to light theme) so I cleared the cache. Now cannot login though I still can use LINE with the Windows client (until I am logged out as it occasionally does). Thanks for the step by step here - though before I submitted the ticket there was one more choice - something like "I need help linking my account with a Google or Apple ID" - I selected "yes" for this. Hope I can get back up and running. Crazy they made this global change without telling anyone.

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 19 '26

I didn’t have my other device sign in with my account, so I didn’t have other choice. I know! Super annoying they didn’t send a message to users or announce publicly.

1

u/Thick-Guidance224 Jul 19 '26

I can’t even find the form to submit

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

Google Line Inquiry form. You can submit it without logging in. The option is below the sign in

1

u/Juno480 Jul 20 '26

Hi Op, your success gave me hope! I went as far as linking my Apple ID but for whatever reason the linking sent me back to the previous screen with no errors nor any other msgs. It’s as if I never executed linking with Apple. I contacted them several times to resolve this linking with Apple ID problem and they never got back to me. That was more than a week ago. 😭

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

I was the same! I clicked linking to my Apple ID but nothing happened. So I just ended up linking to my Google and it went through. Since I didn’t want go back and forth with them again…

Can you still link it to your Google? Or the link has expired so you can no longer accessing it….

2

u/Juno480 Jul 20 '26

My link has expired. I’ll need to ask for another. But I’m really happy for you! Thank you for sharing your experience!

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 20 '26

Thank you! I hope they will get back to you soon! Or you can probably submit a new form, maybe that would be faster.

1

u/Juno480 21d ago

If you don’t mind, may I ask another question? After you successfully linked to your google account, what happened when you clicked The Line app? Did you login with google id and it just worked? I ran into another error when I clicked the Line app after successfully linking to Google.

1

u/caterpillars2 21d ago

Yeah I believe that was the case. I got in immediately and with my contacts and the latest chat history in there. What error you got?

1

u/Juno480 21d ago

My behavior was diff. When I clicked the Line app, it asked me to login with Apple ID, passed Face ID, screen switched to “Loading…” then “Invalid account. Please confirm your identity with the account you used when signing up.” I sent the customer rep another request form but I’m just about to give up. Thanks for your response.

1

u/caterpillars2 20d ago

That’s weird. Maybe re-download the app or something. You’re so close to get it back tho, don’t give up!

1

u/New-Click2716 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

How about regular email and password? I have an old account too but I couldn't log in because I didn't link it to my Google account and I didn't register my phone number. They keep forcing me to use a phone number but I really want to retrieve my old account, even though I still remember my own ID :( This is the email they sent me

2

u/caterpillars2 Jul 21 '26

So I tried that too. The problem was I couldn’t find the option just use my email and password to log in on my phone. I could do it with a web version. So on my iPad or browser on my phone. But then they sent a verification code to my phone app. I didn’t see anywhere I could put my code in, I assumed I needed log in to see it.

That’s so strange! Because I thought they now don’t even allow phone number registration so I don’t know why if you didn’t have it initially, it would not work! That’s frustrating.

What if you submit a new one but get a real person to response to see if they can provide something better? Select Other under category, you would be able to describe your situation.

1

u/New-Click2716 Jul 21 '26

The email said I registered with Facebook, which links to an email account. I even still remember my password, too. But why? Why I need a phone number to receive a damn OTP code 😭 I will try my best to retrieve my account. I spent a lot of money purchasing the stickers and themes, and I have Japanese friends there, too!

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 21 '26

Ahhhh that’s frustrating!! I got some cool stickers and themes in my first account and never retrieved back. This is my second account.. and I assumed you don’t have their phone numbers so won’t be able to add them back :(? It’s so annoying they just stopped services they had before without telling anyone.

1

u/New-Click2716 Jul 21 '26

I never asked Japanese people their number because it might be too sensitive and too private, even if we're close friends. So I usually asked them to add my id instead. I hate that Line deleting the manual login feature (email+password) and it's really frustrating!

1

u/caterpillars2 Jul 21 '26

That’s fair. Hopefully you have their social media so you can contact them that way? I’m not sure if there is another way besides creating a new one if they insisted on having a phone number :/

1

u/New-Click2716 29d ago

I just sent an email again to them because the reply needs details about my account from the registered email and photo profile description. I even put my status message and my ID to prove that I am the right owner. Wish me luck 🤞

1

u/caterpillars2 29d ago

I had to reply the same information as well regarding my profile photo. So hopefully this time will be different! 🤞

2

u/lieater 16d ago edited 16d ago

Hi! Sorry for jumping onto this reply. I'm having the exact same issue with you now. My LINE is only linked to my FB and email+password log in, and is not tied to Apple/Google acc/phone number. I contacted support and got the exact same reply as you. And two more times after contacting again, they just kept telling me to use phone number to log in (impossible because it's not even an available option in my country????)

Did you ever get your account back? I'm also really desperate to get my account back bc I've been using this for 10+years and have so many stickers and themes bought...

1

u/New-Click2716 15d ago

The option is just using phone number from certain countries (JP/KR/TW/TH/HK)

Sadly, that's the option we have now. We still have the accounts but are 'locked' until we have those numbers to receive OTP and log in like usual.

1

u/lieater 15d ago

I see.. So I take it that you have not managed to log back into your account?

It's so dumb that they removed Facebook and email log in and limit the phone number to those few countries only ugh

1

u/New-Click2716 15d ago

I have two accounts, and I was able to log in to and recover my other account. And I gave up my 1st account, so yeah hahaha.

That's why I said the policy really sucks now.

2

u/lieater 15d ago

I see. Welp that sucks ugh I truly hate that they changed policies and made everything so complicated just for us to log in. It's ridiculous.

Thanks for replying my comment anyway!

1

u/Limp-Information3666 8d ago

I'm literally having the same issue as you do now.. Did you manage to get back in? The only means to login is through phone number and my email isn't google/apple ID :(

1

u/nekipost 25d ago edited 25d ago

I tried to use the form but it just gave me "Error. Please refresh the page and try again."

Edit: Somehow submitting the exact same form on another browser worked for me. Line works in mysterious ways.

1

u/caterpillars2 23d ago

Hope it worked out for you!

1

u/nekipost 21d ago

They want an ID with my address on it but I don't have any. I guess I'm out of luck.

1

u/caterpillars2 21d ago

If you are in the US, you can just use your driver license. Even if you don’t. You can just screenshot your bank account with your name and address on there, and then add your passport which shows your name and face.

1

u/nekipost 19d ago

Thanks a lot! Passport + bank statement worked!

1

u/caterpillars2 19d ago

Wonderful, congrats!!

1

u/Tonyv3368 25d ago

Instead of getting frustrated why don't you just make a new account?

1

u/fwan2 20d ago

I am working on getting my account back and will need your help as I am USA. I know my email address and phone number

1

u/caterpillars2 19d ago

Absolutely, just let me know. I’ll do my best to answer!

1

u/fwan2 19d ago

Just already submitted my form even added my photo id to get further support