Can’t add email from deleted account to another account

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  johnschult · Member · Jun 11, 2026 at 6:33 pm

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  I had a Gravatar account with my email address that I deleted and I can’t add it from another account I used for all my emails. It says this when I try to add it:
  
  This account has been deleted and cannot be used for login.

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  james3265166 · Member · Jun 15, 2026 at 5:50 pm

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  When a WordPress.com/Gravatar account is completely deleted, the system permanently flags that specific email address in the database to prevent account recycling and spoofing. Because of this security lock, you won’t be able to add or transfer that email address to a different account on your own. To get this sorted out, I have flagged this thread for Staff / Happiness Engineers. They will need to verify your ownership details through a secure channel and manually purge or release the email string from our system backend so you can cleanly link it to your active profile!

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  johnschult · Member · Jun 15, 2026 at 5:56 pm

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  Thanks, I will be standing by 😀

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  elcristofue · Staff · Jun 15, 2026 at 7:45 pm

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  Hi @johnschult,

  Just to confirm, are you trying to reuse an email address that was previously connected to an account you deleted and add it to a different account?

  If so, email addresses can’t be reused immediately after an account is deleted. Each account must have a unique email address, and once an account is closed, the email stays reserved in the system for about 30 days before it becomes available again for reuse.

  You can read more about this here:
  
  https://wordpress.com/support/email-address/#reuse-an-email-address

  After that period, the email will become available again and you’ll be able to use it for a new account.

  Please let us know if you have any additional questions or if you’re trying to achieve something different. Feel free to share more details and we’ll be ready to help you further.

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  hunzafatimaa · Member · Jun 16, 2026 at 10:03 am

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  If you deleted an account and are now trying to add the same email address to another account, the most common reason it fails is that the email is still reserved or linked to the deleted account in the system.

  Try these steps:

  1. Wait for the deletion process to complete – some services take days or even weeks to fully remove an account.
  2. Check for account recovery periods – many platforms keep deleted accounts recoverable for a set time, during which the email cannot be reused.
  3. Sign out and clear cache/cookies before trying again.
  4. Contact the platform’s support team if the account was deleted recently and the email remains unavailable.

  To give more specific instructions, tell me which service you’re using (Zoom, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, etc.) and the exact error message you’re seeing.

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  staartmees · Member · Jun 16, 2026 at 10:31 am

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  @hunzafatimaa there is no need to repeat the answer a Staff member already gave!

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  johnschult · Member · Jun 18, 2026 at 1:31 pm

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  @elcristofue I am pretty positive that it has been more than a month since I deleted that account. I am still getting the error when trying to add it to my active account. Can we do something to verify what is going on? Thanks!