Request to set an abandoned free site to private — no account access

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  villaalbacoffee · Member · Aug 4, 2026 at 8:12 pm

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  I have already tried the password reset and the Account Recovery form; neither works, for the reasons below.

  I am the owner of costaricacoffee.wordpress.com, a free site I created around 2012-2013 for my coffee business in Costa Rica. I no longer have account access — the registered email, (email visible only to moderators and staff), was lost when that domain expired years ago.

  I have since re-registered getcostaricacoffee.com and control that mailbox again, but WordPress.com password reset emails do not arrive there. The Account Recovery form requires a receipt or transaction ID, which cannot exist because the site was always on a free plan.

  I am not asking for account access. I would like to request that the site be set to private, as it is outdated and displays business information that is no longer accurate.

  If it helps, I can prove control of getcostaricacoffee.com by DNS TXT record or a verification file at any path you specify.

  Note: I am posting from a different WordPress.com account, since I cannot access the original one.

  Thank you.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  cindysantana25 · Staff · Aug 5, 2026 at 1:40 am

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  Hi there,
  
  Thanks for reaching out. Due to security and privacy policies, we cannot make administrative changes to a site, such as changing its privacy settings, without verifying account ownership through our standard account recovery process.

  Because of these security protocols, going through the <u>Account Recovery Form</u> is a step that must be completed. Since you no longer have access to the registered email address or transaction ID, you can still submit the original email address associated with the account, even if you can no longer access that inbox. You can also submit any specific information you recall about setting up the site such as approximate creation date, original activation details, or initial login information.

  Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep all WordPress.com sites secure! You’re more than welcome to reach back out if additional assistance is needed.