Cancel a recovery

The message Account recovery started: cancel it if this was not you goes to every verified address on the account when a waiting period applies. Its wording here is the English; the message is sent in your saved language, otherwise the language the application asked for, otherwise English (Languages). See The recovery waiting period.

Opening the link changes nothing by itself. Only the button cancels, so a mail scanner that opens the link on your behalf cannot cancel a recovery you want. A cancel link works for a recovery that is still waiting.

1. Cancel the recovery.

The recovery link page, Continue recovery, has a footer line, Did you not ask for this?, with the link Cancel the recovery. It opens the same cancel page. Use it if you opened the recovery link by mistake or did not expect it.

On the page from a sign-in alert email, No, secure my account also cancels any recovery that someone has started, along with ending every session. See The sign-in alert email.

If it was you, there is nothing to cancel. Ignore the hold notice and continue as described in The recovery waiting period.

A recovery you did not ask for means someone knew enough about your account to try. Take these steps.

1. Sign in, if you still can, and change your password. See Security and passkeys.
2. Add a second factor if you do not have one: a passkey or an authenticator app.
3. Look at Sessions and devices for anything you do not recognise, and use Sign out everywhere if in doubt.
4. Check that your email account is secure. Recovery works through your mailbox, so whoever controls it can start one.

• Start a recovery
• The recovery email