Can’t recover old account

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  megford1775 · Member · Feb 23, 2026 at 7:45 pm

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  I need help recovering access to an account attached to my old college email which I no longer have access too. I can’t complete the account recovery form because I don’t have any of the 3 required proofs of identity but I can prove the account is mine in other ways. Is there a work around?

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  iamnelsonnnn1 · Member · Feb 24, 2026 at 6:04 pm

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  Hello @megford1775,

  It sounds like you might have hit a dead end with the 3 required proofs needed to retrieve your account. I am just trying to think outside the box from the worst-case scenario:
  
  If this method you are trying has stopped the account recovery process, please also consider contacting your college

  And you should ask for a signed letter (on official letterhead) that includes:

  1. The Statement of Ownership: “This letter confirms that [User Name] was the sole owner and user of the email address [college-email] from [Year] to [Year].”
  2. Account Linkage: “This email was used for official university business and is tied to the Student ID [Number].”
  3. Ask the college to include your new personal email in the letter as the verified successor for contact.

  This way, you are basically Replacing: The automated “3 proofs” form. With: A notarized or official institutional letter.
  
  In the meantime, I have notified a happiness engineer to assist you further regarding your account.
  
  I hope this helps as a starting point regarding a potential workaround,
  
  Best,
  
  Nelson

  
  
  

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  megford1775 · Member · Feb 25, 2026 at 5:38 pm

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  Thank for the insight and idea! Would WordPress even accept that as proof of ownership though? And how would it be submitted to them when the recovery form can’t be submitted without one of the required proofs of identity?  

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  iamnelsonnnn1 · Member · Feb 26, 2026 at 2:35 pm

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  Hi @megford1775, thank you! I think there’s still a chance. If you can contact someone directly at WordPress, explain the situation, and offer the official college letter as proof, I think that could work.
  
  Which is why I tagged a Happiness Engineer to assist further.
  
  Best regards,
  
  Nelson

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  themagicrobot · Member · Feb 26, 2026 at 4:24 pm

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  I doubt WordPress.com accept letters to close down sites. The onus is on the person who creates the account/site keeping written details of username and password. In some instances staff will set a site to “private” if they feel it displays personal information. So I have added a modlook tag. Note that “Happiness Engineer” tags don’t attract staff.

  

  Recover your account

  in WordPress.com Support

  4 min read

  When you are unable to log into your WordPress.com account, you have a few options to regain access to your account. In this guide, you will learn how to restore your login access. In this guideCheck where your site is hostedReset your passwordVerify your account ownershipTransaction IDActivation URL or keyTwo-step authentication codesIf ownership cannot be established
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  elcristofue · Staff · Feb 26, 2026 at 5:12 pm

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  Hi @megford1775! Thanks for letting us know about this.
  
  Could you please share the domain name of your site so we can take a closer look?

  I also want to let you know that we can only accept the types of documentation listed in our account recovery guide to verify ownership. You can review the accepted documents here:

  https://wordpress.com/support/account-recovery/#verify-your-account-ownership

  If you don’t have the required documentation, the remaining option would be to request that the site be made private so it is no longer visible to the public. You can read more about that here:

  https://wordpress.com/support/account-recovery/#if-ownership-cannot-be-established
  
  Please let us know if you have any questions or need any extra help, and we’ll be happy to assist you.

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  megford1775 · Member · Feb 26, 2026 at 5:28 pm

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  Hi,

  Thanks for your help everyone.

  I do have what I believe is the correct login information (username and password) but I get an incorrect password notification when I attempt to login and can’t reset it since I no longer have access to my college email.

  @elcristofue I can’t provide any of those 3 documentarians for proof of ownership because 1) I never purchased anything 2) I don’t have access to my college email to get the verification key from a decade ago and 3) two step authentication was not a thing in 2016 when I set this up.

  Here is the domain: https://meghaneford.wordpress.com/

  I would think that WordPress would have a workaround for these old accounts. I’m not the first person I’ve seen on these forums having these issues.

  If the only option that stands is to make it private, then please do that.

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  elcristofue · Staff · Feb 26, 2026 at 6:41 pm

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  Thanks for sharing these details, @megford1775, and I understand what you mean.

  That said, the verification steps we’re requesting are part of an important security protocol designed to protect account ownership and user privacy.

  Since we’re on a public forum right now, we’ll be reaching out to you directly by email so we can continue helping you privately from there.