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Amy
Community Manager
4 years agoCommunity ManagerRecover your Dropbox account - Dropbox Community
How to recover a Dropbox account without email access
It’s happened to everyone at some stage. You try to log in to an account you haven’t used in a while, and you can’t remember your password, so you click ‘reset my password’ and you go cold as you realize the reset email has been sent to an email account you haven’t used in an even longer time. An account that you know you can’t access. Whether you forgot the email address, it’s an expired student account, a work account from an old job or just an email account lost to the perils of time, you know deep in your soul, it’s gone. So what do you do if it’s your Dropbox account, and you can’t access the old associated email account? Well, there are a couple of ways that you can recover your Dropbox account. If you found yourself searching things like ‘Dropbox forgot password old email’, ‘Dropbox password expired old email’, or ‘How to access Dropbox from old email’, then this should help you out!
Do I really need that old email account to use my Dropbox account?
Yes, you need an active email address to create a Dropbox account and to change your Dropbox password, as this is where the reset email goes when you click ‘forgot password’. This security measure helps us protect your account from unauthorized access.
If you forgot the email address associated with your Dropbox account or can’t access it, there are a few ways you can try to sign in:
- Locate the associated email address on a connected device, shared folder, or your billing information.
- Recover your Dropbox account using your password.
- Update your password and email address on a device that you’re already signed into.
So, don’t worry if you forgot your Dropbox password or can’t remember the email address associated with your account, as you can try each of these ways to log in. Please note that for security reasons, we can’t change the email address on your account for you, but read on to find out more about each of the above options.
Which email address is associated with my Dropbox account?
If you’re not sure what email address you used to create your Dropbox account, you can find an account email by looking it up on a connected device, shared folder, or your billing information. On desktop you can click the Account tab. You'll see the email address for your Dropbox account there, while on mobile it is visible in the Settings section.
How to recover your Dropbox account with your password
This is for when you know your password, but you also know you have lost access to your email - like when you know your college email address is about to be retired. If you can sign in with your password you can easily change your email address to an email account that you do have access to. To change the email address on your Dropbox account:
- Sign in to dropbox.com with your password.
- Click your avatar (this is your profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner.
- Click Settings.
- Under the General tab, locate your email address.
- Click Edit next to your email address.
- If you see Verify email instead of Edit, you’ll need to verify your email address before you can change it. This requires access to your email address, in which case you need to contact your email service provider to retrieve this link.
- If you see an info icon (i inside a circle) instead of Edit, you’ll need to contact your admin to change your email address.
- Enter your new e-mail, confirm e-mail, and Dropbox password.
- Click Update email. We’ll send a verification email to your new email address.
- Open the email, and click Verify your email.
You can change the email address on a team member’s account if you are a Dropbox Business admin. If the above steps didn’t work because you need to access your Dropbox account but forgot the password to your old email, you can follow the steps below.
What if I forgot my Dropbox password or it has expired?
If you can’t reset your password with the associated email account, you can update both your password and email address on a device you’re signed into. Just be careful with the email address you update to - you don’t want to lose access again!
If all of that doesn’t work for you, you need to contact your email service provider to get you access to the account and then you can access the reset link.
So, there are a few ways to regain access to your Dropbox account even if you’ve lost access to your email address. An easy way to avoid losing access to any account is to use Dropbox Passwords. If you’re an account admin, it’s wise to add more Dropbox admin roles to the account for backup and explore additional admin tips to make the most out your account .
Let us know if that helped in the comments below!
RossmcjjjjNew member | Level 2What happens if a dropbox has been accidently deleted
- Rich
Super User II
Rossmcjjjj wrote:
What happens if a dropbox has been accidently deleted
If you mean the entire account was deleted, then it's not possible to recover the account once it has been deleted.
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