Gee, where is my Gmail?
September 21, 2012 7:00 AM   Subscribe

Gmail acting mighty strange

Till this past week, Gmail worked just fine. Now I get this message:
To keep our systems healthy, Google has temporarily disabled your account. This primarily occurs when we detect unusually high levels of activity on your account. In most cases, it should take one hour to regain access. In rare cases, it can take up to 24 hours for access to be reinstated.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience.

Here are some reasons why this could have happened:

Receiving, deleting, or downloading large amounts of mail via POP or IMAP in a short period of time.
Sending a large number of messages to many people.
Being logged into or synchronizing Gmail on many computers, clients, or mobile devices.
Browser-related issues. If you find your browser continually reloading while attempting to access your Inbox, it’s probably a browser issue, and it may be necessary to clear your browser’s cache and cookies.
Providing access to file-sharing, file-storage software, email analytic

I do all they tell me to but issue remains...Later it is ok but then the same thing happens the same day. And the dah after

Could it be connected with Google Reader use?
posted by Postroad to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)
 
Have you checked the link right at the bottom right of the Gmail page that says e.g.:
Last account activity: 43 minutes ago
Details
?
That should show you if there is any unusual activity on your account - e.g. someone or something logging in frequently, maybe someone has "discovered"* your email password and is logging in from somewhere else or a rogue device is refreshing your inbox every 5 seconds.

*either through cracking it because it was easy to guess, or maybe you left a public computer logged into Gmail somewhere.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:08 AM on September 21, 2012


Also on that Account Activity page, you could try the "Sign out all other sessions" button to see if that helps.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:10 AM on September 21, 2012


It's not connected to Reader. FWIW, I just gave up on Gmail again as two-factor authentication was wonky. I had to keep creating new application specific passwords daily and got tired of it quickly. So it is possible that Gmail is just having technical issues.

Could you have a forgotten Pop 3 or IMAP device somewhere that is going crazy and hitting Gmail frequently?
posted by COD at 7:18 AM on September 21, 2012


Response by poster: thanks thus far. Still unable to get to it, e ven to check account activity button. when I had the issue for the second time, I changed password but it did happen again and the same day!
but keep the ideas coming. will get to the bottom or simply use another email system.
posted by Postroad at 7:22 AM on September 21, 2012


It's very unlikely to be a gmail problem, more likely a problem with your computer.

Make sure you are using a trusted computer. This means not logged into an administrator account, up-to-date anti-virus and patches. Install PSI Security to check for patches. Ensure you have no strange browser plugins. Now sign out all other sessions, and change your password. Use two factor authentication if this is viable. If you have a password reset e-mail address, check it. If it's wrong, change it, then verify it, then sign out all other sessions and change your password.
posted by devnull at 7:36 AM on September 21, 2012 [1 favorite]


What browser are you using? I have been having occasional (different but perhaps similar?) problems with Gmail authentication in recent months using Firefox 14 and 15 that I haven't been having in Chrome or IE.
posted by aught at 9:12 AM on September 21, 2012


Response by poster: I am using latest Firefox
I have another account at Gmail and so wiped cookies etc and logged into that one with no trouble; went back then to regular account and same issue. Finally, then, decided
Gmail ok, browser ok, new password, etc and so closed account and opened new one.
posted by Postroad at 9:54 AM on September 21, 2012


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