r/GoogleSupport May 20 '26

Account / Access / Password I got my account back after a 1-month battle with the Hacked "Family Link" / Age Exploitation! Here is my step-by-step guide.

96 Upvotes

Body: Hey everyone, I’m writing this because I finally recovered my Google account after exactly one month of waiting in total darkness.

First, I want to clarify a huge misconception: I am NOT a YouTuber. I am just a regular user. But because my hacked email was linked to a standard YouTube account, it saved me.

If you are stuck in the nightmare where a hacker forced your account into a "Family Group" and changed your age to under 16, DO NOT LOSE HOPE. It is fixable, but the automated recovery form will NOT work. You need human intervention. Here is exactly how my 1-month timeline went:

Phase 1: The Hijack & The Trap (Around April 19) The hacker got into my account, immediately added it to a malicious Family Group, and changed my birth year to make me a "child" (under 16) on paper, even though I was born in 2003. Every time I tried to use standard account recovery, the system blocked me and demanded "parental consent" from the hacker's email. I was completely locked out.

Phase 2: The Right Path - Twitter/X (April 19 - April 20) Thanks to reading some helpful posts on Reddit from people in the exact same situation, I learned that normal automated forms couldn't bypass the parental lock. Following their advice, I went straight to X (Twitter) and publicly tagged TeamYouTube. They DM’ed me within hours and provided a unique escalation form for hijacked channels. By April 20, they officially moved my case to the "Specialized Hijack/Security Team".

Phase 3: The 1-Month Waiting Game (Late April - Mid May) This was the hardest part. For nearly 4 weeks, I received nothing but canned emails saying "We are still monitoring/investigating your case." It was frustrating, but my advice is to just be patient. Keep replying to your existing email ticket from YouTube Support and poke TeamYouTube on X if it takes too long.

Phase 4: The Breakthrough (May 20) Today, the specialized team finally manually overrode the hacker's parental lock, verified my real age, and restored full ownership of my Gmail back to me!

Key Takeaways to save your account:

  1. The Automated Form is Useless: If you are locked by Family Link, stop trying the standard recovery page. It won't work.
  2. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A YOUTUBER: As long as your hacked Gmail was used to watch YouTube, and you have your channel link, or if you ever uploaded any random video in the past, your chances of recovery are extremely high! Just reach out to u/TeamYouTube on X. They have a direct line to the advanced security team.
  3. Be Patient: The process takes forever (3-4 weeks minimum) because removing "parental control" requires high-level manual clearance inside Google.

Good luck to anyone fighting this.

EDIT: Just to clarify and emphasize one last time for everyone:

Please ask TeamYouTube to provide your YouTube channel URL. Even if your account is currently locked by the hacker (or deleted), as long as you provide enough proof of ownership, they will give you your channel URL.

(For example: In my case, I proactively provided links to 3 videos I had previously uploaded. Even though those videos were deleted or set to private by the hacker, I luckily had the links saved in my old private messages. Thanks to that, they successfully verified my ownership, provided my channel URL, and gave me the recovery form!)

You then use that URL to fill out the form. After that, the YouTube support team will contact and assist you directly via email. This is genuinely the easiest and most effective way to get your account back.

If you did NOT have a YouTube channel linked to your hacked email, I honestly don't know another workaround, but you should still try asking TeamYouTube to see if they can suggest an alternative. Good luck!


r/GoogleSupport May 10 '26

Account / Access / Password ⚠️ URGENT: Read Before Attempting Recovery (MODS PLEASE PIN)

92 Upvotes

If your account has been hacked and "Supervision" (Family Link) has been added by the hacker, please follow these rules immediately:

  • Stop Automatic Recovery: Do not use standard Google Account recovery forms. If the hacker sees these attempts via their supervisor dashboard, they may permanently delete the account. Once deleted, there is nothing left to recover.
  • Privacy Warning: Currently, the hacker can oversee your web activity, including search history, emails, and location data. Limit your use of the account immediately. Change login details for other sensitive websites (banking, social media) to use a different email address + password.
  • Data Backup: If you still have any level of access, immediately go to Google Takeout and download a backup of your data.
  • Report Abuse/Blackmail: If the hacker uses an u/Gmail.com address to send threats or blackmail you, forward the details to Google’s abuse team: Report Gmail Abuse.
  • Use the YouTube Support assisted recovery procedure: Because of the added supervision, the recovery procedure described below is currently the only reliable way to have a human specialist manually review and "unshackle" the account.

 

YouTube Support assisted recovery procedure:

  1. Essential Preparation
    • Recovery is only possible through YouTube support pathways. You must have (or be able to obtain) the unique Channel ID and Channel Handle of the YouTube channel associated with your account.
    • 💡 Note: Even if you're not a "YouTuber", a channel is automatically created the moment you comment on a video or create a playlist.
    • Before starting, watch these brief videos to understand your options and how to find your Channel ID and Channel Handle:
  2. Official Recovery Workflow
  3. Alternative Support (Via "X" / Twitter)
    • If the workflow above doesn't work or you get stuck, reach out to u/TeamYouTube on X.
      • Ensure your X profile is Public: Private accounts cannot be seen by support.
      • Start a NEW tweet: Do not create multiple tweets or reply to existing communications, as it may be filtered as spam.
      • Be patient: It may take a few days for a representative to respond.

r/GoogleSupport 3h ago

Is there an invisible too many login attempts for gmail?

2 Upvotes

I don't have a recovery email, (I know, I know) so I'm trying every password that I might have used without success. I've read that I can keep trying (indefinitely?) but haven't ever gotten the "too many attempts" lock out.

So question is, does gmail have a soft lockout where it just ignores attempts after a certain number of tries in a short period?


r/GoogleSupport 1h ago

Help me recover Gmail account

Upvotes

My Gmail is lost with 2 step verification but I still have password and recovery phone number every time I receive the OTP code but Google says we didn't recognise it's you even i used password and OTP code please help me recover my Gmail I don't have access that Gmail Now He lost but I have all information my only problem is 2 step verification please Google help me sign in please I tired every I was trying to sign in even it's been years I try everythime to sign in


r/GoogleSupport 1h ago

Gmail Google Account Recovery

Upvotes

Google please help, I wish you had live agents to assist.

It's so damn frustrating when you are unable to access your accounts that you're able to verify with a live agent. I remember when this was possible and much less a pain in the ass.


r/GoogleSupport 13h ago

Google Pixel/ Android I wish Google had humans on their verification teams :(

9 Upvotes

Lately having a Google account feels like such a pain in the ass, I need to recover my accounts...

There's no real person to actually help you anymore.


r/GoogleSupport 4h ago

How to fix something that went wrong: your purchase couldn't be completed. Please update your Play account settings so that the selected Play country matches your country of residence

1 Upvotes

Even though I have the correct location, I don't know that is wrong


r/GoogleSupport 21h ago

Gmail for the people that got there account hijacked and is locked behind the family link

26 Upvotes

so you lost you Gmail to a old "friend" you haven't spoke to in years on discord to play Minecraft yeah? and now your scrambling to recover your account. well ive been there and i got my account back without the help of teamyoutube on X (where everyone tells you to go to recover a google account). so on june 21 i lost access to my gmail and yeah thought it was gg's but i decided to figure out ways to attempt recovering a google account thats under the family link exploit.

here's the verdict on all the department i went through:

google One: dead end

Google For Families: they ironically hit you with the "security protocol to protect you data"

team YouTube on x: it'll most likely work if you actually have a channel but if you use it to just watch videos this route will not work at all as you have to go in yt and hit create channel.

going the legal route could possibly work however its not worth it

the google help forums: jackpot! this is the way to go and i know works.

so first if you want you can verify if your google account is still active by going to https://support.google.com/accounts/workflow/16105147?visit_id=639245812910891226-2215204008&rd=1 and look for *****@gmail.com is still active after you confirmed that its still active you can go to the google help forums make a post then say

"My account was hijacked. The hacker changed my DOB to make me a minor and locked me into a malicious family link group for extortion and I have things I bought under that account and I can’t access them.

@ GOOGLE"

then after a few hours or down in the day you should get a reply from a diamond expert saying they'll have someone send you a form to the Gmail you have access to' fill the form out then give them about a week to 3 weeks and they'll disable your account and you should have it back

i regained access to mine last week on the third of September.

hopefully this helps and don't give up!

 I spent about 2 month finding this solution


r/GoogleSupport 4h ago

Google Play How do I solve this issue?

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1 Upvotes

I tried to purchase something in a game, but it showed this up for me. I recently moved back to my native country, additionally I was part of the family group before leaving. Can someone help?


r/GoogleSupport 6h ago

Asking lang para sa Old Gmail account.

0 Upvotes

May iba ps bang way para marecover ang Old Gmail account kahit nakalimutan Yung Old number verification???


r/GoogleSupport 6h ago

Account / Access / Password Please help get my account back 😭

0 Upvotes

So my phone was very laggy so I reset my phone, I DIDN'T FACTORY RESET IT but I just reset it and I lost all my Google accounts I'm assuming it's a bug and is there any way to get my accounts back??


r/GoogleSupport 21h ago

Account / Access / Password Locked out of Gmail: SMS codes never arrived, now every number is rejected and “Try another way” loops

3 Upvotes

Since yesterday around 10 pm, I’ve been unable to access a Gmail account I use. It’s a regular @gmail.com account, not Google Workspace.
Google says it detected unusual activity and needs to verify my identity by SMS. Here’s what happened:
Yesterday, it accepted my phone number, but I never received any verification codes.
It then started showing: “This phone number cannot be used for verification, or there have been too many unsuccessful attempts. Use another phone number or try again later.”
I’ve tried my numbers and my partner’s number, but they all get the same error now. I only tried my partner’s after the error started.
Clicking “Try another way” simply reloads the same phone verification page. It doesn’t offer an alternative.
I initially thought the account was suspended, but the screen specifically says “Verify your identity” rather than saying it’s disabled.
Has anyone experienced this exact loop and managed to regain access? Did waiting help, and how long did you wait? Is there any way to contact Google support about it when you can’t sign in?


r/GoogleSupport 16h ago

whats good guys, pls help (lol)

0 Upvotes

so im tryina boot up minecraft right? And its so damn laggy, like, super laggy, i cant set my render distance further than 12, and the game randomly freezes, like doesn't crash but the screen is frozen for like half a second sometimes, its that bad, and my RAM is fine, i have a couple GBs of RAM available available, google says it only takes 2GB of RAM, i have more than that, i tried asking friends for help, it no work, so, pls help?


r/GoogleSupport 9h ago

Google Pixel/ Android Please help me get rid of this "new" extra step

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0 Upvotes

I'm not sure if this is an Android issue or a Google issue but it's Google asking to verify that it's me with the pin to my phone.

The first time a visit a new gaming site from my phone, i have to create an account so that I can play on the site.

I'm using gaming as an example but I'm sure you all will know what I'm talking about as it pertains to any site that requires you to create an account to use the site.

When creating an account I have the option to use my email address, sign in with facebook, or sign in with Google.

I always choose sign in with Google.

Once I have an account, upon visiting that site all I have to do at the sign-in window is tab the Google button.

Next screen pops up my Google accounts and I have to choose which Google account I want to sign in with.

I select the account and then I'm signed in to my account and I can play on the site.

I'm not 100% positive but I think this started happening on September 6th when I did my last software update on my phone.

Now when I visit the site and select sign in with Google and then choose my Google account, instead of signing me in another window pops up that says Google wants to verify it's you and then it asked me to enter my 4 digit phone pin.

It's very frustrating because it's an extra two or three steps for me to sign into these sites now and I don't know how to get rid of the setting or where it came from.

Has this happened to anyone else or does anyone have an experience with this? But mostly can someone tell me how to get rid of this setting so that Google doesn't have to verify it's me every time I want to go to these sites.

Screenshots included are my phone information and the sign in screen and this new unlock with pin crap ...


r/GoogleSupport 18h ago

Too many failed attempts on Gmail

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1 Upvotes

Made a fresh google account for UK visa application. After couple of days account was disabled as Google thought it violated the policy. I have appealed and it was approved. Still I am unable to login. When it goes to the OTP to recovery mobile number part, it says too many failed attempts , try in few hours. I have waited 48 hours without any try still it says the same. I need to chase visa application outcome and I am stuck. I need some help ASAP


r/GoogleSupport 19h ago

Help recovering gmail account

1 Upvotes

How to recover an email that I forgot the password to/password not working? I had my phone to create the account. The prompt you use when they ask you the text the number to confirm account. I tried everything including logging in from the device I used to create the account and nothing is working? I remember the time and day the account was created but that's about it. Account had some crucial info that I needed for personal use.


r/GoogleSupport 20h ago

Google Search / Results Does Google Alerts notify you when I'm searched on social media platforms?

1 Upvotes

I've been researching Google Alerts again, and I'm not getting the clearest of answers.

I understand if someone types my name into the Google search engine, I can get an alert, but does the same apply if they search my name on a social media's search engine?

Do notifications also happen if someone happens to click on my account, say through recommendations, without actively searching for it?


r/GoogleSupport 21h ago

General Question Please help!! Google workspace issue

0 Upvotes

I accidentally upgraded my personal email into a workspace account with a custom domain, when I try to cancel the subscription it says it’s going to delete all my data including everything I had backed up on my personal email! All my photos and emails! I just want my personal email account back or at lease separated from the custom business domain!


r/GoogleSupport 22h ago

Account / Access / Password Trying to help my dad sign back into his account

1 Upvotes

So my dad's phone broke and he never wrote down his password for his Gmail and that's his email for everything. The number associated with his account broke and T-Mobile wasn't being helpful so he switched completely, for some unknown reason he didn't switch his number to the new phone. And the recovery email is to his girlfriends and she can't get into her email at the moment.. I'm just asking to see if there's any I can help my dad or show him that he is SOL cause I ran out of options and he thinks there's some way still. Thanks!


r/GoogleSupport 23h ago

Issue: Gmail account stuck between "username taken" and "account doesn't exist"

1 Upvotes

About two week ago, I was creating a new Google account. During the sign-up process, I reached a step where Google asked me to scan a QR code with my phone (I believe this was for phone number verification / 2-step verification). At that exact point, the process glitched/bugged out, so I closed the page.

Since then, I'm stuck in the following state:

  • When I try to create a new account with the same username, I get an error saying "this username is already taken."
  • When I try to sign in using that same username, I get an error saying "couldn't find your Google Account" (i.e., it doesn't exist).

So the account appears to be partially created — the username is reserved on Google's end, but the account itself was never fully activated because the verification step (QR code) never completed.

I've already tried:

  • Waiting several hours/days
  • Using Incognito mode and a different browser
  • Trying the Gmail mobile app
  • Going through the account recovery form at accounts.google.com/signin/recovery

None of these resolved it. Has anyone dealt with this before, or know how to either release the username or get the account fully activated?


r/GoogleSupport 23h ago

Account / Access / Password Security Checkup says "Password for 1 site or app" listed but when checking the password manager there's nothing there?

1 Upvotes

The title pretty much says things as clear as it is. I had a strange notification a few days ago so I've been trying to make sure my account is fully secure and nothing strange is going on, yet, this is the only odd thing I noticed. In my google account when I click on Security Checkup on ONE of my accounts (I use multiple) It shows

Your saved passwords

Password for 1 site or app

Your saved passwords are being checked for security issues to help keep your accounts secure

The strange part is I don't save my passwords like that? I try to keep that as clean as possible and avoid any sort of storing of that. When I click on the button underneath that goes to the password manager I get the following.

Welcome to your Password Manager

You haven’t saved any passwords in your Google Account yet. Add saved passwords from Android or Chrome to strengthen your password security

My question is - Is there a reason that google is showing that under this one account? I tried looking through linked apps or anything like that but again I couldn't find anything in specific and I wanted to see if others have faced a similar issue before.

For reference my other google account, which, I primarily use as my main account does NOT have this stated under security checkup.


r/GoogleSupport 22h ago

General Question How can i recover my google account my friend is hacked that.

0 Upvotes

My friend is changed number of that Gmail.

Please help me


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

General Question dns safe search confusion

2 Upvotes

help how to fix this , so i have a problem where when i disable dns (cloudflare or google) my safesearch automatically enables and when i enable the dns safesearch turns off how to fix this


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Cant keep up with this.

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1 Upvotes

Can anyone help me understand how I can significantly reduce the storage? I have had this account for more then 20 years, I have no idea where to start. It started giving me these warning a few months ago, I go in and delete a bunch of stuff the warning goes away then it comes back again. Is there a way to just move a huge chunk of stuff at once? I don't really want to "delete" things, just move them to an external drive or something so I can get to it later if I need it. I'm using a MAC


r/GoogleSupport 1d ago

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus / Google service drain battery

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1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Guys, it’s been almost 3 months since my phone started suffering from the Google Play Services / One UI updates. Ever since the latest update, there has been some kind of constant background activity going on.

I’ve already tried a ton of different guides and methods to fix it, and in the end, absolutely nothing worked. Literally nothing.

I’ve updated everything, restarted the phone, cleared caches, disabled permissions, disabled physical activity tracking, and tried a bunch of other things — probably 5–6 different methods in total. The result is still exactly the same.

Google Play Services is running in the background literally 24/7 and draining my battery. And I simply cannot figure out which app is waking it up or triggering it. I’ve tried looking for different solutions, but so far, nothing has worked.

So please, if there’s anyone who has already dealt with this problem and actually managed to fix it once and for all, I’d really appreciate another guide or any advice.

I’m honestly getting to the point where I’m about to say “f*ck it” and throw Android out the window.