"Codes sent to the same Google account I'm trying to recover!!!"

The above is either the title or the gist of plentiful threads I have seen posted in both the Gmail and the Google Accounts Help Communities for the last several months and noticing how the volume of such threads has continued to increase, I feel it is time to take a deep-dive into this topic to explain certain things in great detail.

For better management, we are going to divide this article into three sections.

1. Section 1: What typically happens
2. Section 2: Why does this happen
3. Section 3: What are the available options for account recovery when this happens

Section 1: What typically happens

It typically begins when you forget the password of your Google account. So, you decide to reset the password through the Google user-verification process; which then sends a code to the mobile number listed on the account and once you put that code in and click on next, surprise, surprise, a code is sent to the same email address you are trying to recover!!!

Section 2: Why does this happen

This unusual process of verification happens under specific circumstances and in this article, we are going to look into the components that create that specific circumstance so that we can then be careful about them.

The components are as follows:

1. You have forgotten the password on the account.
2. and you have 2-step verification enabled on the account and do not have access to the 2-step verification options listed on the account for various reasons.
3. and you may have either
• performed a factory reset on that device,
• or have had repairs done on the device that could have that effect,
• or attempting to sign in to the account from a previously unused/new device for various reasons including loss, damage or theft of the regular device used to access that Google account.

As I have mentioned in many other Google Accounts-related articles on this blog, the Google user-verification process looks to verify all attempting users beyond all reasonable doubts and using the most secure process based on the highest security setting enabled on the account. This is a very important detail to remember.

When you have 2-step verification enabled on the account and you forget the password, you are automatically failing the first step of your two-step verification process. 

After that, if through a factory reset of the device or by not having the phone in your possession or your decision to not enable any other 2-step verification options, you are unable to verify your ownership of the account, you are also failing the second and final step of your two-step verification process and thereby making it impossible for the system to verify you as the rightful owner of the account per the instruction on the account and the verification/recovery guidelines mentioned above.

It is then that the Google user-verification system chooses to employ this very unusual process of ownership verification because

1. it is unable to find any other secure method of verifying account ownership based on the stated guidelines, or
2. it sees the account signed into somewhere.

Section 3: What are the available options for account recovery when this happens

If it is #1 and the system cannot find any other secure method of verifying account ownership based on the stated guidelines. In that case, you need to explore other options through which you can obtain the codes sent to that email address.

To begin, check if options such as "Try another way" or "More ways to verify" prove helpful or not.

The following options, if previously set up on the account, can help. 

• Check if there is/are any account(s) the lost account may be forwarding its emails to.
• Check for any other accounts or email clients which may have access to the account you are trying to recover via Mail delegation, Gmail Mailfetcher or POP3.

If it is #2 and the system sees the account is signed in somewhere, check thoroughly if the account you are attempting to recover is still signed in to any other desktop or mobile browser, mobile app, email client or from any old, stored away device. These are the only options.