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Sarah GFW's avatar
Sarah GFW
New member | Level 2
11 months ago

Locked out of my account and no access to the email

Can anyone help me?

 

I have recently upgraded both my Macbook air and iphone.  The macbook air was fine and all information and files had migrated perfectly from my old macbook, but in trying to sync Dropbox on the iphone, which wasn't happening automatically, I've locked myself out of my main Dropbox account.  I seem to have two accounts.  The one I can access has hardly anything in it but the original one, that I use for everything has an old log in which is an email address I haven't owned for a long time.  Although I know the password I am now being asked to enter the authentication code that's being emailed to me.  But it's not being emailed to me...it's going to the email address I no longer have access to.

 

I'm in crazy panic mode as I can't get into any of my files...and I don't know if someone else now uses that email address and may be receiving these codes!

 

Anyone had this happen and know how to get hold of someone who can actually fix this for me?!

 

Thanks

 

  • Yes - all resolved now. Have found my ipad and it was receiving the codes. So I've been in and have updated the email address. The phone has now synced.  But!....  I now need to find how to switch accounts on my desktop. It's logging into the second account not the main one. I can't see how or where to change that back!! Any tips?  Thanks for your help. 

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Sarah GFW wrote:

    ... the original one, that I use for everything has an old log in which is an email address I haven't owned for a long time.


    You can try contacting Support, but without access to the email account you may not be able to gain access to the Dropbox account. You need to maintain an active email address on your account so you can receive password resets and one-time security codes used during sign in.

     


    To contact Support, visit the Support page while you're NOT signed in to a Dropbox account, including these forums, and you'll see an option for sign in issues. It's best to use an Incognito or Private browsing session to make sure you're not signed in.

     

    • Sarah GFW's avatar
      Sarah GFW
      New member | Level 2

      Thanks Rich.  I know I should have changed the email address before but I've never been asked for 2 step authentication before so didn't anticipate this when I changed my laptop and I normally get codes sent to my mobile.   I've sent a message to support so hopefully they'll be in touch sooner rather than later. 

      • Rich's avatar
        Rich
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

        Sarah GFW wrote:

        ... I've never been asked for 2 step authentication before so didn't anticipate this when I changed my laptop ...


        This is why you were asked for a security code. You installed Dropbox to a new device that it didn't recognize, so it has to verify the account. This is a different process from the normal two-step verification that you can enable on your account. This one-time security code is specifically meant for suspicious sign-in attempts.

  • TarouTanaka's avatar
    TarouTanaka
    New member | Level 2

    Please allow me to log in with just my email address and password. I registered with an old, currently unused email address and cannot log in because I cannot verify the security code. Please improve it.

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey TarouTanaka, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

       

      Have you checked your email's spam/junk folder to see if the emails end up there somehow?

       

      You can also add the email address no-reply@dropbox.com to your address book and then try sending the email again.

       

      Let me know of any updates! 

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