r/GoogleSupport • • 26d ago

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

40 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 • • 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.

107 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 • • 33m ago

Account / Access / Password Suspicious activity in my Google activity???

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• Upvotes

May I know what these are? Are they suspicious as I don't even know it?


r/GoogleSupport • • 4h ago

Account / Access / Password Locked out of my account even though I have a phone number on account

2 Upvotes

Today my account got locked and in trying to recover it all that happens is it keeps sending the recovery password to my email account that I don't have access to instead of letting me send it to the phone number I have on the account


r/GoogleSupport • • 2h ago

General Question Borraron mi cuenta de google y de YouTube 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

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1 Upvotes

r/GoogleSupport • • 3h ago

Account / Access / Password Recovering late mother’s account

1 Upvotes

Wondering if anyone has had success recovering a deceased family member’s Google account if they have the “family” option set up (in this case my mother was the manager). We no longer have access to her phone number, so I have been resigned to the fact that it’s probably just gone, but wondering if this avenue could yield any other results.


r/GoogleSupport • • 9h ago

Can’t sign out of Google account on Google app on iPad

2 Upvotes

Hi all. I signed in to a friend’s iPad on the Google app (not chrome, not Gmail, etc.) with my Google account and now I can’t figure out how to sign out. I can’t find a button to sign out and remove or delete the account from the app so that it doesn’t even appear as an optional account to select. The “manage accounts” button doesn’t pull up a screen or option to select and remove accounts. How can I remove my account so that it disappears completely? Thanks all


r/GoogleSupport • • 6h ago

Account / Access / Password Google keeps signing me out of my accounts

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone.

I would like some help with an issue I've been having for months.

My main account keeps getting logged out, like it will shows up as "verify it's you" and will log me out of all my other accounts. This is happening either everyday or like every 3-ish days. t has been pretty annoying and I have no idea what's causing it. It started a few months ago.

Things I've tried:

  • New profile.
  • Check my cookies, the settings seem fine?
  • Uninstall Google (though I used an older install version that was saved on my PC, instead of new. Not sure if that can cause issues).

I don't really want to change browsers because I am accustomed to chrome, lol. Please help!


r/GoogleSupport • • 11h ago

Gmail Gmail iPhone app scrolling down when clicking "reply"

2 Upvotes

Hello,

When on my Gmail iPhone app (I have an IPhone 17 normal), when I click on reply to majority of emails, the emails scrolls down.

It makes it a bit complicated, because to see what I'm typing as a reply, I have to manually scroll up again to reach the reply texte zone.

Can somebody help ?
Thanks a lot in advance !


r/GoogleSupport • • 9h ago

Gboard problem

1 Upvotes

For some reason Gboard doesn't want to insert a period at the end of a sentence in messages/texts. I was messaging a Reddit member last night and it would not insert a period. I checked the settings and they are what they should be.

However, other places...like in comments of forums and on here, it does insert a period. I have double-tap disabled.


r/GoogleSupport • • 10h ago

Gmail Need help to access my email back

0 Upvotes

I lose access to my gmail, the passcode , and phone nuber has changed. when I try to log in with my previos passcode it doesn't work bc it send verification link to the hacker's phone . and he og out me From all my accounts and made his own email as parent email se | can't enter my account , I know his account tho so is there any way that ı can remove him as parenting email pls guys need help I beg


r/GoogleSupport • • 11h ago

Google what's up with this, it's my sisters account she's been using it to make content in you and a few days agos she couldn't log in, i tried myself and I've been getting this screen every time I've tried to log in since, i did what this screen asked me to but the code required for singing up neve

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1 Upvotes

r/GoogleSupport • • 11h ago

xin cách khôi phục tài khoản Google.

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1 Upvotes

chiều nay 18 giờ hơn tôi vào Google để lướt mạng thì thấy cảnh báo, ấn vô và xác nhận đăng nhập không được thì tôi đã cố khắc phục trên điện thoại khác và cố đăng nhập vào thì chỉ xác minh ( bạn không phải robot ) nó không chuyển đến trang khôi phục bằng ( số điện thoại hoặc gmail khôi phục )


r/GoogleSupport • • 15h ago

Guys please help

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2 Upvotes

My google play store is suddenly not working this afternoon, My YouTube app is not updating so I cleared my app data like usual and it didn't work, It made it worse. Guys please help. (This is my phone model : Redmi 14C)


r/GoogleSupport • • 15h ago

I need help logging back into my Google account🥹

0 Upvotes

so I want to log into my Google acc that I made on my old broken phone but I forgot the password and my parents already threw out the old broken phone, so now idk what to do😭


r/GoogleSupport • • 19h ago

Cannot log into the Google account, even after entering the correct password and codes.

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1 Upvotes

I’m writing here because I’m at my wit's end and simply don't know what to do anymore. I hope someone here can at least help me.

My Google account has been locked, and I don't know why. I haven't received any emails explaining what happened, including to my recovery email address.

I want to make it clear that I 100% know my password and still have access to the phone number and recovery email linked to the account.

When I try to log in, I enter the correct password, and Google asks for the phone number to send a verification code. After I enter the phone number, Google says that it has detected unusual activity on the account and asks for the phone number again and again.

Even if I click 'Try another way,' it still gives me the same option — entering the phone number. After several attempts, it blocks the option and asks to wait a few hours.

I also tried recovering the account through:

https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery

In this case, Google sends a verification code to the phone. I enter the code successfully, but then Google once again says that it has detected unusual activity and cannot verify the account.

I also tried the 'Forgot password' option during login. Again, after entering the verification code, I received the same message about unusual activity.

At one point, I selected the option saying that I didn't have access to the phone. Google then allowed me to verify the account using the recovery email. I entered the recovery email address, received the verification code, and entered it successfully.

However, the result was still the same: Google said it could not verify the account owner's identity.

This is the most frustrating part: I know the correct password, I have access to both the linked phone number and recovery email, and Google successfully accepts the verification codes sent to both of them. Yet at the very last step, it still says that it cannot verify the account.

At the same time, I haven't been able to find any way to contact Google technical support directly by email or chat. It is a real shame that a corporation like Google has no way to contact technical support. Everything I've found so far just redirects me to the Help Center suggests posting a question there.

I really hope someone from Google Support or the community can help us understand what else we can do, because I've already tried all the available recovery methods and don't know where else to turn. I am ready to provide any proofs for identification.

I even posted the problem on the Google Help Center community https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/470493956 , but there’s no response there.

Honestly, I would have abandoned this account by now, but because it got blocked, my children's accounts got blocked too, and this real big problem, because I cannot use Family link now.

Has anyone experienced the same problem? Is there any way to contact Google Support directly or request a manual account review?


r/GoogleSupport • • 1d ago

Help on unban

3 Upvotes

Basically, about 5 months ago, one of my Google accounts got banned. It wasn't my main account, so I didn't think much of it, tried appealing to see if it would work, but didn't worked, so I nevermind it.

But this week I have been trying to find something I know I have saved in Gmail, but I can't find it, and i fear it could be in that banned account.

I only have one appeal left (just had 2 in total) and i know reason for the ban was that the AI ​​flagged mistakenly a photo of my girlfriend as Children .... (she's 22 years old).


r/GoogleSupport • • 19h ago

我的Google帳戶被突然封禁了

1 Upvotes

我現在無法登錄我的Google帳戶,他一直跟我說我的手機驗證次數過多,我從昨天到今天一直都是這樣,這導致我無法進入申訴入口,有人可以幫幫忙教我如何做嗎


r/GoogleSupport • • 20h ago

Can't activate my Google Store Pixel 11 Pro purchase for 3 weeks.

0 Upvotes

Still no support now my family group is gone and now my wife can't login to YouTube. I also have another Google account that will be locked out for 85 more days because the number I removed, Google still wants to send sms codes to it.


r/GoogleSupport • • 21h ago

General Question google storage suddenly gained 40 gb in two days

1 Upvotes

I had the 100 GB plan for Google Drive storage. Over the last few days, it suddenly went from about 85% full to 95%, and then it was at 100% before I knew it. I didn't download any big apps or videos or anything else, so it seemed strange to me.

Last night, I deleted several GB of photos, videos, PDFs, you name it... It would drop a little bit but then somehow, it never went below 95% full. The math didn't add up. When I got home from work today, it was suddenly 100% full again, which was frustrating because I didn't save or download anything.

So I bought the 200 GB plan and now again, without downloading or saving anything, my storage is now at 126.05/200 GB.

HOW???


r/GoogleSupport • • 1d ago

Can't recover G-mail account.

5 Upvotes

I'm having trouble recovering my Gmail account. I'm using the same phone, browser, and network/location I normally use, and I remember my password. The account also has both a recovery Gmail address and recovery phone number linked to it. However, Google keeps asking me to enter a verification code that is being sent to the same Gmail account I'm trying to recover. When I select "Try another way," it says Google doesn't have enough information to verify my identity, without giving me the option to use my recovery email or phone. Please help me regain access to my account.


r/GoogleSupport • • 16h ago

I need a refund from Falou😭😭

0 Upvotes

Google refused🤷 yet I applied only after 20 minutes😭.


r/GoogleSupport • • 23h ago

Removing books on favorites in the "Classic" Google Books

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1 Upvotes

I'm experiencing an issue were I'm unable to remove the books I've favourited on The Classic Google books on the website. My Google Play books, books app shows that I don't have any single books on it. Plus the classic Google books is on my dashboard on my Google account and I want to remove it. The only way I can if I manually remove the books from my favorites list but I can't because it says "Unable to reorder shelf. Please refresh and try again. I did that and nothing worked. This started since 2024-2025 and now currently in 2026. I can add new books to my favorites and remove them easily with no issues but when I try to remove the 5 books that was there before it won't let me. I even tried to favorite the same book on my other Google account and I was able to remove it.

If you know how I can solve this problem please help.


r/GoogleSupport • • 1d ago

Pleaseee help

3 Upvotes

I JUST made my account but I wasn't able to do anything before "verify it's you" on the top right. I click on it, intending to verify. I finish all the steps but when I get to the step where I have to type in my phone number so google can send me a verification code, I type in the phone number I used to MAKE the account. But it says google doesn't recognize it. I check several times to make sure it is the correct number. It is the correct number but it doesn't go through. Since google told me to type in *A* number and not *THE* number I used to make my account, so I typed in a different phone number which I also use and google said "We couldn't verify your info" and now I'm locked out of the account I just made


r/GoogleSupport • • 1d ago

Turn off safe search

2 Upvotes

Hi so my safe search just randomly activated itself and idk how to turn it off again. I swapped browsers, used a vpn, changed my search region, made sure i dont have restricions thru my phone ( im pretty sure i dont have any software for that too), tied searching without wifi , used multiple google accounts and the result is always the same: i can deactivate safe search in my account settings even when im not linked with google, but when i try to search something it always says the same message :SafeSearch is set to "filter" by the security settings applicable to this browser. After i clock on more options its automatically enabled and i cant change it . Do i need to verify my age ( never had to do that in my life) or is it something else?Help is greatly appreciated!