Gmail Login Troubleshooting
There are basically two ways to log into Gmail. Either by using the Gmail web interface that is available for most users at gmail.com or by accessing Gmail remotely using desktop or mobile email clients. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.
A Gmail login at the website is not bound to a specific location, users can be anywhere and access their email account if they have a connection to the Internet there. Remote clients, like the desktop email programs Outlook or Thunderbird, on the other hand offer other advantages. Emails can be accessed even without an Internet connection for one. They can also be stored locally and not on a remote server, which provides access to them even if no Internet connection is available.
One of the main problems users of the Gmail web interface face is that there is not a good way to switch Gmail accounts or log into two accounts at the same time. The second problem can easily be fixed with the privacy modes that most web browsers come with (or plan to implement). Privacy mode work independently from the rest of the Internet browser which means that it can be used to log into Gmail separately.
The Greasemonkey script Google Account Multi-Login is another possibility. While it does not offer simultaneous gmail logins it provides an easier way to switch between gmail accounts directly in the web interface.
Gmail Account Login Troubleshooting
A user with login problems has to analyse the situation in detail.
- Is the Gmail website loading?
- Are username and password of the email account accepted?
- Does the Gmail page list an error message?
There are certain "best practices" when dealing with log in problems at the Google Mail website (the correct url is actually https://mail.google.com). The first is to ensure that the website is loading properly. This can be done by clearing the Internet cache or trying another web browser to access the Gmail homepage. If you only see a blank page when you try to load the Gmail website, or a partially loaded site, this is your best course of action.
Open your favorite web browser and enter http://mail.google.com/ into the address bar. Is Gmail loading or is the page showing an error message or remaining blank? It may help to clear the browser cache and try again, or to use another web browser to log into the email service. Browsers to try include Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome. Chance is that a firewall, router or computer virus are blocking access to Gmail on the computer if you can't access the Gmail website with any of the browsers.
Instead of clearing your browser's cache, you can try and force Google to transfer the site anew to your computer. When on the Gmail website, use Ctrl-F5 to force a refresh. This basically tells the Google server to transfer all files anew thus bypassing the local browser cache.
A last resort would be to try another computer to see if the Google Mail website opens on that PC.
Forgotten username or password
A forgotten username and password on the other hand, or usernames and passwords that are not accepted by the Gmail login page usually require filling out a help document to make Gmail resend the data so that the account can be accessed once again.
The cannot access my account page aids the user in retrieving the relevant account information. You find direct links to the most important pages to resolve these types of issues below.
Direct Links
- Gmail Homepage with login form, go here.
- If you forgot your password go here
- If you forgot your username go here
- If your account has been compromised go to the account recovery form here
Locked Google Mail account
Another possibility why you can't log in to your account is because of it having been locked by Google. This happens automatically when "abnormal usage" indicates that an account has been compromised. According to Google, it may take up to 24 hours before account access is reinstated. Reasons for locked accounts include:
- Receiving, deleting or downloaded large amounts of emails in short time
- Sending a large number of emails that bounce back (undeliverable)
- Using file-storage software, browser extensions or file sharing software that is automatically logging into the account
- Running multiple instances of Google Mail
Hacked accounts
A hacked Gmail account can be another reason why you have troubles logging in. Google has created a Mail Security Checklist that you should follow to the letter to make sure your computer is clean. It recommends for instance to check the computer for viruses and malware, change the Gmail account password and make sure that a secure connection is used when connecting to Gmail.
Gmail users need to assess the situation in detail, before they can troubleshoot it. The guide should have made it clear that there are different possibilities why an account cannot be accessed by a user.
Google users who have fixed their gmail login issues are encouraged to share their experience with other users to aid them in resolving the login issues on their end.
Updates
Google has introduced the new 2-step verification option to improve the security during log ins. The new feature utilizes smartphones that generate or receive a temporary code that needs to be entered during the Gmail login. This basically adds a second layer of defense to the sign-in process so that attackers need to get hold of the username and password as well as the one time code. Gmail users can configure the 2-step verification under their Account Settings. It is recommended to add a backup phone or backup in case the phone gets lost or stolen. (via) Google Mail Multi-Sign In is now also supported on mobile devices so that Gmail users can sign in to multiple accounts.
AdvertisementWe need your help
Advertising revenue is falling fast across the Internet, and independently-run sites like Ghacks are hit hardest by it. The advertising model in its current form is coming to an end, and we have to find other ways to continue operating this site.
We are committed to keeping our content free and independent, which means no paywalls, no sponsored posts, no annoying ad formats or subscription fees.
If you like our content, and would like to help, please consider making a contribution:
Have to continually renter my email address and password whereas it used to come up automatically
I have not been able to access my gmail for the past 3 days. A window keeps popping up saying: ‘secure connection failure’. Please email me a ph # that I can call for help.
Thanks,
Victoria
I am having problems logging in my account. My mails are published openly anyone can access my emails for the webpage
Gmail Account Manager says: (read: Gmail Login).
I googled Firefox: Gmail Login — I’m here and this is where it got me — this instruction. I cannot get to a secondary account that I’ve given out the address to. It’s important that I get those messages. Too bad, huh?
I cant open my 1st gmail account after i registered my 2nd gmail. WHY?
Cannot recieve any email as sombody else has the same email address!?
I just changed my gmail a few minutes ago & instead of them saing that my pass word was invalid, they put me in my email,so I figured that was the one that they finally decided to give me after a couple of hours of thinking up on one-WHO IS IT THAT IS BEHIND ALL THESE HINDERANCES? Who? Just who is this dam EVIL AS TO WHERE THEY WANT TO TORMENT ME …Hey I AM really thru cause this is JUST A BIG JOKE!! BYE!
instructions on how to access email are not obvious. Maybe I am doing something wrong but if so, that indicates that the system is to complicated for the average user. Even the reply under “trackbacks” is confusing because when clicked, popup advertisments appear. Just ow secure is this site?
i’ve been trying to login to gmail for a week and it says the page is not found or there is an error in the certificate for the website.
how can i found out about somebody who opend a account from gmail on my name and is messing up other peoples lifes if u cant help me then i am going to the police and they will take it from there and i will also go to the papers about this so if u can please tell me who opened and give me all the information that i need.
thank u
David Pauw
I haven’t been able to log on for 4 days now!!
What the hell, I have loads of work to do -pls help!!!???
I cannot open my Gmail account from a particular office pc…….but can open from other machine. how can I solve this problem… Iam in great problem……
Please suggest me how my problem can b solved……
i dont really lyke gmail……. i have to retype in the user name
and password until it excepts it…. ugh i lyke yahoo ALOT better.
it faster and you can do more stuff. and the gurl named ‘ROXIE 12’
are you just being nice when you say its awsume? seriously……..
I am trying to access my email and it say there is a parental block on it.
I am 45 years old and cannot break the parental block. Do you think this could be a virus in disguise.
Cannot access my login on gmail, I get a message with a red shield saying that access is denied and I should close the website
I CAN NOT LOG IN 2 MY GMAIL ACCOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS STUPID COMPUTER/INTERNET???!!!!!!!!!!! LISTEN HERE, I HAVE TRIED 3000 TIMES TODAY!! Y IS IT NOT WORKING???!!! FROM A VERY ANGRY/ANNOYED/P*******OFF MUCHACHA I MEAN NO HARM XXX
Download moxilla firefox or google chrome. Then try to login.
Using mozilla or chrome you can login your gmail account.
Yip, i’ve tried it 3001 times! i’m getting seriously p-off!! lets try the google chrome advice and reconvene or shoot google in it’s stupid ass!
why do yous makE it so bloody hard to login you wud think at this stage of technoligy you wud sort it out it makes me so f****** anoyed everytime i try to poxy login SORT ITN OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I no tell me about it i dont understand why they hav to make it so difficult like in this day and age u wud think they wud make it easier to simply login to yur own account THEY MAKE ME SO MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am get confused pls on this gmail login page dear
i am waiting
gmail site is pain in the butt.
never expected this pain for so long.
why the hell they are not looking into the problem.
I’M CONSTANTLY TRYING TO ACCESS MY GMAIL ACCOUNT AND ITS IS NOT WORKING ,ITS FRUSTRATING ME PLEASE I AM FEDUP. PLEASE GMAIL DO SOMETHING.
ANICIA
I used to login quite easily but not anymore. Now I have to use Google Chrome to access gmail.
What has happened to Gmail?
Well that depends on what you are experiencing.
No login page and the error message is:
We’re sorry. It seems there is a problem. Please try using Gmail with a supported browser. If you’re encountering this error while using a supported browser, we suggest alerting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that a proxy is failing to accept cookies on HTTP redirects.
Which browser are you getting the error message with? Have you cookies enabled? Are you using a proxy to connect?
I can’t open gmail account i received the following:
The connection has timed out
The server at http://www.google.com is taking too long to respond.
* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.
* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network
connection.
* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
I have good network connection, with another PC in the network there is no problem. Only with one PC
Please help
I cann,t open my gmail. It showing massage Dignostic connection. Unable to open gmail.
What is the reason. Please help me..
Can’t get into my Gmail. Is there a problem with Gmail, or do I need to examine my system for problems. My other site appear to be fine and able to get into my other personal sites without difficulty.
My email address was hacked into. All of my emails from the last 3 years were deleted. All of my contacts were deleted. And the person contacted all of my contacts asking for money with a phony story about me being stuck in London. I had no way of contacting everyone because I do not have every contacts memorized nor written down anywhere. What can I do to try and report this? They used an email similar to my actual one to fool people. I am so upset. My family knows that I am afraid to fly so thank God no one was fooled. But I lost business contacts that are important. I can not apologize nor warn them of what has happened. Can I retrieve my emails and contacts? How can I avoid this happening again. I can’t even express what this has done to me. I want to use and enjoy technology but this makes you want to go back to using smoke signals.
Please Help me….a million thanks. The website above is the fake email address.
gmail when i first got it it was cool and it stil is do not get me wrong but it is now much harder to login . i cannot login like i said Either i’ve forgotten my password or theres some type of different way i have to tyPe it i to acctually be able to get on the gmail website this problem needs to be fixed i agree with knight templer . so know i am unable to login .. its vey dissapointing. gmail what in the world is going on this is my favorite e-mail. place . and i just cannot figure out wat is going on .
I am going Loopy!! ere!! I can logon to my Gmail. The stupid thing wont accept mt password!! The same password that I,ve had since Julius Ceaser was Emperor. This never happened on my old system. AAAAAGGGG!!!!
I used to login quite easily but not anymore. Now I have to use Google Chrome to access gmail.
What has happened to Gmail?
my Hotmail account encountered problems after 6 years of seamless service, SO, i switched to Gmail…..NOW i have to try a thousand (1000) 1K…a LOT of time exploring all the sites that have the word ‘sign’ in them….many, many sites with ‘commercials’ for products i so not want and it usually takes me , no kidding, a dozen + tries to find it. i am sick of it, but dare not try to switch again for fear of lsoing mail, addresses and so forth like i did last time. GMAIL SUCKS!
PS I find it ironic that there is a box for me to check if i want notification when this is published….hahahahahaha.
am unable to open gmail through my mobile and sometimes through system ……why its happening like this i dont know better pls rectify the problem
I can not access into gmail login page in my computer. How can I solve the problem.
This isnt working for me either. Cant get into my email & I am waiting for some important messages. This sucks!
i can only retreive my gmail on my sprint phone. I need to retreive my gmail on my home computer and i cant remember my password. all my attempts to follow thru with your helps have failed. please help
Cannot access my account after turning off and restarting Mac computer.
There was an icon across top of screen to bring up my gmail inbox page. This has disappeared.
All I can access is useless canned info that does not help. Also pages of other similar complaints by others.
There is no live help on phone or chat.
This system is not satisfactory. It does not serve the most basic needs of customers.
Not a good advertisement for the Google company if this is their best effort. Completely sub standard.
Yep. I downloaded Chrome, and now I get my gmail, even slower. What a JOKE!! Google was twice as fast. Any answers??
WHY, THE DON’T HAVE CUSTOMER SERVICE OR A LIVE PERSON THAT CAN HELP WITH ANY PROBLEMS….
Has anybody EVER been able to re-set their password with gmail? If so, please share the trick. Filled out all the answers they ask, that I knew, and still 2 weeks later, I still do not access to my phone because gmail has locked it. Tell me this why should gmail be able to lock my phone and sprint or HTC can not unlock my phone…. What do you do when you forget your password??? Fill out forms so they can send you a generic answer with NO help!!!!!!
Dear Sir,
I would like to divert your kind attention to the problem that I am facing today in Login my account at Gmail, when I am trying to log in the page is getting shifted to its right and because of it ,I am not able to look the box of My name and the Password, so kindly do some thing regarding it so as to make it possible for me to log in my account.
Regards,
Sanjay Mehrotra.
08-07-2011.
I am very happy to read your blog.Thank you for sharing this article.It is great! Thanks for sharing this nice post.I will keep your article in my idea. and gmail my friend
I just changed my gmail a few minutes ago & instead of them saing that my pass word was invalid, they put me in my email,so I figured that was the one that they finally decided to give me after a couple of hours of thinking up on one-WHO IS IT THAT IS BEHIND ALL THESE HINDERANCES? Who? Just who is this dam EVIL AS TO WHERE THEY WANT TO TORMENT ME …Hey I AM really thru cause this is JUST A BIG JOKE!! BYE!
IN MY GMAIL ACCOUNT, THEIR NO OPTION FOR LOG IN AND LOG OUT. FOR THE ABSENCE OF THIS OPTIONS, MY ACCOUNT IS NOT PROTECTED. PLEASE SENT TO ME A GOOD SOLUTION
hi I have problem by my Browser Phone SE j10i2 chinat k970…
My Cellular Browser Internet yet complete
Its very difficult to log in to your gmail account
Having big trouble accessing email account. Is there a problem at your end ?
please fix my problem ASAP!! i can’t access Gmail webpage… when enter Gmail button, “This webpage is not available, login might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address. Error 118 (net::ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT): The operation timed out.” sometimes Error 101. PLEASE Help me
I have a problem though.. My google docs were signed up thru google apps.. They still use my gmail account.. However if i login thru google docs, i can’t access my google docs.. Help will be much appreciated
First go on google home page there up side sign in is written there click and sign in is open there down side written creat an google accont click that comment an it will open then fill it full which it wants and then you also be member of Gmail like me. Have A Nice Day……………..
what the hell is this yahoo is 100 times better then gmail im trying from last 4 days
Signing in to Gmail is undoubtedly the most frustrating exercise on the web. Persistent refusals of correct password, even after deliberately changing pass word in attempts to avoid mysterious problems.
There is in principle no reason why signing in should be complicated and unsatisfactory. Unless google improves this, I for one will be compelled to use other mailbox systems that do not create these unnecessary difficulties.
i have opened my gmail account in a browsing center & i closed the window without loggingout .on the next day when i tried to access the account ,it is saying the password in incorrect ,so i changed the password & it went well.but next day also it was showing the new password is also incorrect.again i changed the new pwd.but again it showing the same that ur pwd is incorrect.I checked the recovery options there i have given correct ones.how to get rid of dis?
please help out frnds…………………..
i cant log in my gmail account
Hai, I am unable to login to my Gmail account. Pl make it possible.