Hi all. I appreciate that there are many tech gurus on here and that I may be doing/asking something very dumb, but I am as thick as mince with tech so please be patient with me!
My Google pixel phone got water damaged whilst hill walking in the Rhinogs in driving rain on Saturday. I think it's only the screen which has gone, as for a while I was still seeing email and whatsapp notifications on my linked watch. I have mobile phone insurance with my bank and they are sending a new phone out, due here on Wednesday. In the interim I have taken the sim out and put it in an old and long unused Motorola phone to stay contactable. It is working as a phone, but I can't use email, whatsapp or most of the other apps as they are linked to my Google account. I suspect I will have the same issues with my replacement phone.
When I try to log in to the Google account, it sends me a 2 digit number and asks me to enter that on my old damaged phone to authenticate. As the screen isn't working, I obviously can't do that! The phone number registered to my Google account is active in the new phone, I have my Google password, email address and all login details but there seems to be no way around it trying to authenticate via the damaged and unusable phone. I am also logged into my Google account on other devices, a PC and Chromebook and have tried to approve the new/temp phone from them, but they also ask me to enter a code on the knackered phone. Is there any way around this??
Did you set a recovery email address on your account?
- Go to the Google Account recovery page: g.co/recover.
- Enter your Gmail address.
- Use a computer, phone, or tablet you've previously used to sign into your account.
- Use the same browser you usually do, like Chrome or Safari.
- Be in a location where you usually sign in, like at home or at work.
- If you can't access your phone for verification, click "Try another way".
- You'll be prompted to verify your identity using other methods.
Did you set a recovery email address on your account?
I don't know, I set it up years ago and can't remember. Is there any way of checking? I can still access my account via Chromebook and PC. I do have a google email address which is linked to that account.
1. Access Google Account Recovery:
- Go to the Google Account recovery page: g.co/recover.
- Enter your Gmail address.
- Use a computer, phone, or tablet you've previously used to sign into your account.
- Use the same browser you usually do, like Chrome or Safari.
- Be in a location where you usually sign in, like at home or at work.
2. Try Another Way:
-
If you can't access your phone for verification, click "Try another way".
-
You'll be prompted to verify your identity using other methods.
I've tried all that. It always reverts to giving me a 2 digit code and asking me to enter it on the damaged phone. I can't seem to escape from that loop!
It always reverts to giving me a 2 digit code and asking me to enter it on the damaged phone.
In which case you didn't 😩
For future reference you can have multiple recovery email addresses and phone numbers - not that it's much use right now.
Is there any way of checking?
On the pc open chrome and click on your account in the top right corner> manage your google account > security .
@sharkbait thanks
Resolved! Before it wouldn't recognise the temporary phone I was using, even though the sim and phone number were registered as the recovery number on my account. After more several tries, it stopped asking me to authenticate via the old phone and sent me a code by sms to the temp phone. Tbh, I'm not really sure what I did, but it's now working. I can also now see I do actually have my wife's email address registered for account recovery, even though I don't remember doing that. Doh...!!
Move along. Nothing to see here.
