Recovering administrator access to your account

If you're an administrator of your organization's Google Workspace or Cloud Identity account and you forgot your password, or you're a user and your administrator is unreachable, here's what you can do to access your account.

Recover administrator access using automated recovery

If you forgot your password or username, choose an option below depending on whether you added a recovery phone number or email address to your administrator account. If you're not sure, start with Option 1.

Option 1: If you set up email or phone recovery information

Forgot your password

Go to https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery and enter the email address you use to sign in to your administrator account.
Click NextTry another way.
If you have a recovery email or phone number set up for your account, Google will send you a verification code. Follow the instructions to reset your password. Or, you might receive a message to enter an email address so support can contact you later.

Forgot the email address you use to sign in

Go to https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery
Click Forgot email?
Enter your recovery email address or phone number, then click Next.
Enter the full name on your account.
If you have a recovery email or phone number set up for your account, Google will send you a verification code. Follow the instructions to reset your password.

Reasons you might not have recovery email or phone options

You didn't add recovery information to your admin account. Try Option 2 below.
Your organization doesn’t allow admins to reset their own passwords. Go to Allow super administrators to recover their passwords for details.

Option 2: If you did not set up email or phone recovery information

If you don’t have recovery options set up, the recovery wizard asks you to verify your domain. This option works best if you are familiar with managing domains.

Go to https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery and enter the email address you use to sign in to your administrator account.
Click NextTry another way until you get to this screen:
Follow the instructions to add a CNAME record to your domain’s DNS settings. For details, go to Recover your Google Workspace password with a CNAME record.
If your hosting provider is separate from your domain registrar, make sure you are modifying the CNAME record with your hosting provider.
After adding the CNAME record, wait a few minutes before clicking Next. This makes it more likely that Google will find the new record and allow you to immediately reset your password.
Return to the recovery wizard and click Next. If Google finds the new CNAME record, the Create Password screen displays.
Create a new password and sign in to your account.
If the CNAME record is not found, continue with the following steps.
Enter an email address where we can contact you, then click Next. Do not enter the email address of your locked account. Google sends a verification code to the email address you provided.
Enter the verification code you received, then click Next. After Google verifies the new CNAME record, you’ll get an email with a password reset link.
Use the password reset link to reset your password and sign in to your account.
Answer the questions about your Google Workspace account. You don't have to answer all the questions correctly to verify that it’s your account. If you're having trouble answering them, go to Tips to complete account recovery steps.
If the CNAME isn’t found in 48 hours, you’ll get an email letting you know the password recovery was unsuccessful.

If you still can’t reset your administrator password

Ask another admin in your organization with Super Admin privileges to reset your password using the Google Admin console.
If you purchased your Google service from a Google reseller, go to Contact your Google reseller.
The recovery wizard may provide an option to initiate a support-assisted recovery flow. If so, click Contact support and follow the steps below.

Recover administrator access using support-assisted recovery

If you're unable to recover your administrator account through the automated self-recovery flow outlined above, you may be able to use supported-assisted recovery. You will need to provide evidence of ownership of the domain name and the data within the domain.

Before you begin

You need to try automated recovery first, which may resolve your issue. Follow the steps above in Recover administrator access using automated recovery.
Before contacting Support, review the account information that will help Support verify you’re the account owner. Go to Account recovery information for support and Tips to complete account recovery steps.

Use support-assisted recovery

After going through the automated-recovery flow, click Contact support on this screen:

You're directed to the Apps Admin Toolbox.
Enter an email address where we can contact you, then click Continue. Do not enter the email address of your locked account. Google generates a support reference number and sends it to the email address you provide.
Follow the instructions to help us verify that you own the domain. You'll need to add a CNAME record or TXT record to your DNS record at your domain host. If you’re not sure who your domain host is, go to Identify your domain host.
After adding the CNAME or TXT record, click Check Again.
The DNS record can take up to 24 hours to propagate. You can check if the DNS record has propagated using one of the following:
- https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#CNAME/reference number.domain
- https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#TXT/domain
After your DNS record successfully updates, return to the form to complete your request.
Select Request for Password Reset (Recommended), and then click Submit Request.

After you submit the request, the support team will contact you for the next steps. In some cases, you may need to provide additional verification to make sure access is only granted to the rightful owner of the account.

If you're a user and can't contact your administrator

If you’re having issues reaching the administrator of your Google Workspace or Cloud Identity account, your user account can be promoted to the super administrator role with proof of domain ownership.

Sign in to your Google Account (if you haven't signed in recently). Only active accounts can be promoted to administrator. If you’re unable to sign in, you’ll need to Recover your Google Account.
Go to https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/recovery/form and enter the domain name you use for your account.
The domain name is the unique name that appears after the @ sign in your email address. For example, if your email address is alice@solarmora.com, the domain name is solarmora.com.
Click Lookup Recovery Options.
Select I am a user and cannot contact my administrator, then click Continue.
Confirm your details, then click Continue.
Google generates a support reference number and sends it to your email address.
Follow the instructions to help us verify that you own the domain. You'll need to add a CNAME record or TXT record to your DNS record at your domain host. If you’re not sure who your domain host is, go to Identify your domain host.
After adding the CNAME or TXT record, click Check Again.
The DNS record can take up to 24 hours to propagate. You can check if the DNS record has propagated using one of the following:
- https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#CNAME/reference number.domain
- https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#TXT/domain
After your DNS record successfully updates, return to the form to complete your request.
Select Request User Promotion (Recommended), then click Submit Request.
Google will reach out to the existing administrators.
- If the administrators are inactive and unresponsive, Google will promote your user account.
- Alternatively, you will have the option to have Google provide the current administrators with your contact information.

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