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The "Forgot?" Wizard Has Limited Retrieval Ability

For blog owners who have forgotten the Blogger account name or the password, the "Forgot your username or password?" wizard is an essential tool.

You can try to recover account or blog control, by using either a BlogSpot URL or an email address. Both options work only under specific circumstances.

Both options are blind recoveries. You enter a blog name or email address, with no assurance that what you enter will lead to a blog. Only when you enter a valid blog name or email address will you receive a recovery email.

The "Forgot?" wizard has two modes, which you select according to your ability and need.
  • Recovery by BlogSpot URL.
  • Recovery by email address.

Recovery by BlogSpot URL.

Here, you start out knowing a BlogSpot URL (blog name) - and figure out one or more email addresses, based upon what you should know. This option cannot be used, to discover the account name / email address that owns a blog - whether you, or a different person, are the owner.

Enter the BlogSpot name (the "xxxxxxx" in "xxxxxxx.blogspot.com"). The next screen will give you hints what email addresses to check. For account owner protection, the hints are intentionally vague.

This recovery works for active blogs, with BlogSpot name provided - and owned by an individual, or very small team. It will not work with deleted / locked blogs, custom domain URLs, or team owned blogs with many team members.

Recovery by email address.

Here, you start out knowing an email address - and are given a list of the BlogSpot URLs for that address, in email received at that address. This option cannot be used, to discover a list of blogs owned by another person.

Enter the complete email address, that may be associated with a target account or blog. This can be either the account name, or the profile "Email address" - but it must be a real and accessible email address, to produce result. Then check the Inbox, of that address, for a recovery email.

The recovery email will list all blogs owned under that email address, that can be recovered.

If you do not know the account name or email address, and you want to recover blog control, you either use the URL Option - or you make a list of all possible email addresses, and enter each one, one at a time.

The "Forgot?" wizard.

You can use either recovery by BlogSpot URL, or by email address.


Simply enter a BlogSpot name, into the top box - or enter an email address, into the bottom box. Then, click the right "Lookup" button.

Recovery by URL.

Enter a BlogSpot name (only the "xxxxxxx" in "xxxxxxx.blogspot.com").


Recovery by email address.

Enter an email address.


Sometimes, recovery by URL cannot be used.

If a blog is owned by a team, and the team is very large, "Forgot?" will not send recovery email. With a large team, recovery is only possible by each member entering each possible email address, then retrieving recovery email from each Inbox.

When a recovery email listing the desired blog is found, the token in the email message can be used to request password reset and access recovery.

If you have a team blog, with a lot of members, you can't use recovery by URL.


Each team member must enter each email address, blindly.

In the latter case, you have to have each team member enter their email addresses.


Recovery by email address is one possible cause of mysterious recovery attempt email messages. If someone enters an account name / email address that they do not own, and that email account is active, another person gets an unexpected recovery email.

In some cases, with recovery email sent to the wrong person who coincidentally is not honest, this could possibly lead to blog theft. This is one reason why Blogger requires additional, demographic details when processing a recovery token, sent using "Forgot?".

Comments

Unknown said…
I need help! I don't remember my old password for blogger, my phone number is not working anymore and I can't recover the password because is not a google email....
Can you help me please?

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