How can I recover my email without official proof of ownership?
-
When I was logging in (as usual with saved username and password), a pop up said I couldn’t log in due to security. Then I followed the steps to recover my account. The problem is: I used an old email to create the blog so I didn’t receive the log in link sent to my registered email (it has been deactivated). I have stayed sign in and signed in via saved password for so long that I didn’t know WordPress has changed the log in method via link like this. To recover my account, WordPress requires to have proof of ownership which I can’t get access to.
The only I have in hand is another email I have added to be another admin of my own blog. I have proof of admin invitation.
Is there any way I can log in back to my blog’s owner account or get the blog transferred ownership to my log-in-able account? Please help me T.T
Thank you for your support.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi @phuongbao1908,
Since you don’t have access to your email, an alternative way to sign in would be a recovery SMS number, or your backup codes. If you set up a recovery SMS number, you can request a password reset by phone instead of by email. Visit the password reset page and check your phone for a code from WordPress.com.
If you connected your WordPress.com account to a Google, Apple, or GitHub account, you can log in with that account without needing your email address at all.
If neither of the above works for you, you can also reach out through our Account Recovery form, and our team will do their best to get you access to your account once your ownership is confirmed. Account Recovery Form.
-
Thank you for your reply. I have tried all these ways, still couldn’t get access to my account.
- Use a recovery SMS number: Unfortunately I haven’t set up a recovery phone number.
- Use a social login: This account uses Yahoo mail and I didn’t link the account with a social login in the first place.
- Prove your ownership: My pikamin13 account used a Yahoo email which I don’t remember the email address, so I can’t get access to my old email to get any transaction ID or activation key.
I’m sorry that this blog was created way too long ago and wasn’t updated any recovery means. Please let me know if there is any other way to prove my ownership of the account. Thank you so much.
-
Hi @phuongbao1908,
Thank you for trying all those options and explaining your situation
Since the email link, SMS, social login, and transaction ID routes aren’t available to you, your best path is still the Account Recovery form — please don’t count it out, even without a transaction ID. Submit it with as much detail as you can: https://wordpress.com/wp-login.php?action=recovery (choose the option saying you no longer have access to the account email).
Include:
- The exact site URL of the pikamin13 account
- Approximate creation/last-login dates
- Any old usernames or partial recollection of the Yahoo email
- Site details only the owner would know (post titles, themes, settings)
- Any past payment records or card statements showing a WordPress.com/Automattic charge
A note on the admin invitation: being an administrator isn’t the same as being the owner, so it can’t transfer ownership on its own — but do mention it as supporting context.
One more idea: if you can recover the Yahoo mailbox itself through Yahoo’s own recovery process, the login link would then reach you — that may be the most direct way back in, so it’s worth trying in parallel.
The recovery team does its best to restore access once ownership is reasonably confirmed, so please submit with every detail you can gather. Best of luck, don’t give up on it!
-
Thank you for your encouragement. Can I ask how to submit the form without ticking any boxes for proof of ownership.
I haven’t been able to submit the Account Recovery form since I got logged out because I can’t submit any type of proof, so can’t submit the form eventually.
-
Thank you for sharing what the form requires. at least one of those three items (receipt/transaction ID, activation key/URL, or 2FA codes) is mandatory, and for security reasons an account can’t be recovered without one — there’s no way to bypass it.
So your best path is to recover the original Yahoo email itself through Yahoo’s own account recovery process. Once you can open that mailbox, the login link will reach you and you can get straight back into your account
If you’re unable to recover the Yahoo email and have none of the three proof items, then unfortunately account recovery won’t be possible. In that case, the one thing we can do to help is set your site to private (so the content is no longer publicly visible) — just let me know if you’d like that, and we can look into it.
Please try the Yahoo recovery first, as that’s the most likely way back in.
-
It’s so sad to hear because I can’t recover the Yahoo email either.
Anyway, thanks for your support. I just hope that my blog will be fine without getting access to the owner account 😢
-
I’m truly sorry the Yahoo email couldn’t be recovered either and I really appreciate your patience and kindness throughout.
I do want to leave you with some reassurance about your blog: your site will stay live and online for as long as you wish. Losing access to the owner account doesn’t remove or take down your blog — your content will remain published and visible just as it is, so there’s no risk of it disappearing.
And if at any point you’d prefer to have the site set to private (so the content is no longer publicly visible), just reach out to support.
Wishing you all the best, and take care.
- The topic ‘How can I recover my email without official proof of ownership?’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 