Recovery

Recover YouTube channel when you forgot the Google account

Find the right Google Account first. Everything else depends on it.

Is this your situation?

You cannot remember which Google Account is tied to your YouTube channel. You want to find the account and get back into the channel access setup without losing anything.

Do this first

You have not created a new Google Account yet. Try recovering your username to confirm which account you are trying to sign in to, using a phone number, recovery email, or the full name on the account. Use the account recovery page and answer the questions to try to regain access to your Google Account.

Which situation is yours?

You have several Google Accounts and do not know which one is tied to your channel
Username recovery: find a match using a phone number or the recovery email on the account
Username recovery: find a match using the full name on the account
Account recovery: answer questions to confirm it is your account before continuing
Account recovery: reset your password when prompted after confirming identity
Recovery fails repeatedly, even after trying again more than once
No recovery possible: consider creating a replacement Google Account

How YouTube handles this

Every YouTube channel is associated with at least one Google Account.
To find a forgotten username, you need a phone number or the recovery email address for the account.
To find a forgotten username, you also need the full name on the account.
After confirming your identity during username recovery, you are shown a list of usernames that match the account.
Wrong guesses during account recovery will not kick you out of the account recovery process.

Which recovery path is yours?

Do you remember a phone number or recovery email for the account? You can use it to find a forgotten username.
Do you remember the full name on the account? You can use it to find a forgotten username.
Do you know the account but cannot sign in to it? You can go to the account recovery page and answer questions to try to regain access.
Does recovery keep failing after several repeated attempts? A wrong guess will not remove you from the account recovery process.
Is the channel still unreachable after all recovery attempts have failed? You can create a replacement Google Account.

What not to do

Creating a new account too soon You consider a replacement account before recovery of the original is finished.Why it happens: Recovery can feel slow, so a new account feels faster.Already happened: If you already made a new account, go back to recovering the original one first.
Guessing without trying username recovery You guess at accounts instead of recovering your username to confirm the right one.Why it happens: Multiple accounts make it hard to know which one holds the channel.
Stopping after one wrong guess A wrong guess during recovery will not remove you from the process.Why it happens: You worry one mistake has ended your chance at recovery.
Giving up before trying again later There is no limit to the number of recovery attempts.Why it happens: You assume there are only so many tries allowed.

What to have ready

Phone number Needed for username recovery. Check for old verification texts.
Recovery email Needed for username recovery. Check old email for Google notices.
Full name on account Needed for username recovery. Check the name matches your registration.
A familiar device If you cannot change recovery info, try again from a device you normally use. Check you are on that device.
Previous passwords Recall passwords used before. Check a password manager for old entries.
Time to answer A wrong guess will not remove you from recovery. Check that you are not rushing.
Repeated attempts There is no limit to how many times you can try. Check you have not stopped too early.

If this did not work

Username recovery does not find a match Re-check the phone number, recovery email, and full name you entered.
Account recovery repeatedly fails A wrong guess will not remove you from the account recovery process.Recovering a channel without Google Account access
The channel remains unreachable after all recovery attempts If you still cannot recover the Google Account, consider creating a new Google Account.Contacting YouTube support
You suspect the channel was also hacked Recover the hacked Google Account associated with the channel first, before anything else.Securing permissions after a hack
You changed recovery info and recovery still fails Try to recover the account again in a few days.
The account was recently deleted A recently deleted Google Account can be recovered by following the account recovery steps.

Google Account recovery page

Stop this happening again

You can review channel permissions to remove access or make adjustments if needed. Review your channel access setup before a forgotten account becomes a crisis.

Quick reference

Situation	What to do
Forgot which account has the channel	Try recovering your username first, to confirm you are signing in to the right account.
Have a phone number or recovery email	You need a phone number or recovery email to find a forgotten username.
Have the full name on the account	You need the full name on the account to find a forgotten username.
Know the account, cannot sign in	Go to the account recovery page and answer questions to regain access.
Get a question wrong during recovery	A wrong guess will not kick you out of the recovery process.
All recovery attempts fail	If you still cannot recover the account, you can create a new Google Account.

Keeping track of who has access

Situations like this are preventable when channel access is recorded somewhere besides memory. Delvia is built to hold that record for you. That record turns a recovery scramble into a quick lookup.

Download on theApp Store GET IT ONGoogle Play

Was this helpful?