Urgent Request to Reset Mozilla Account
I am writing to request assistance with my Mozilla account. I am unable to access my account due to several reasons: I have lost access to the two-factor authentication app, I have lost the backup data with the 10-digit recovery key, and I no longer have any devices where I was previously logged in. I only have access to my email address.
I do not need access to the synchronized data; it would be acceptable if you delete it and allow me to register a new Mozilla account with my existing email address. Using a different email address is not an option for me.
I am in the process of transitioning away from the Google ecosystem and would like to use Mozilla's services and products. Could you please help me reset my Mozilla account so that I can register a new one with my current email address?
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Best regards, Evgeny
Chosen solution
You can perhaps try to get Mozilla Account support with ticket at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/mozilla-account/form
I think the email used in this case will be product-help at firefox.com
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (13)
Unfortunately this is only a help user forum and if you lost your password or access to the Mozilla account there's nothing much anyone can do to help here. No one here has access to your account besides the account holder.
markwarner22 said
Unfortunately this is only a help user forum and if you lost your password or access to the Mozilla account there's nothing much anyone can do to help here. No one here has access to your account besides the account holder.
Hey, could you help me out with an address where I should send my request?
I wrote to a bunch of support addresses over a week ago but didn't get any response, not even a message saying the address isn't valid.
Here are the addresses I tried: accounts@firefox.com, help@firefox.com, support@firefox.com, support@mozilla.org, and help@mozilla.org.
Recently I tried to do something for a person in a similar situation and I found out that nothing can be done here. Our auth protocol doesn't allow reusing an old e-mail, at least for now.
TyDraniu said
Recently I tried to do something for a person in a similar situation and I found out that nothing can be done here. Our auth protocol doesn't allow reusing an old e-mail, at least for now.
Wow, thanks for the info! Do you have any idea when the option to reuse the email will be available, or is there a way to track the progress of the task myself?
No, I don't know that.
TyDraniu said
No, I don't know that.
Should I create a feature request or a bug report?
Could you give me some advice on what to do?
As I said, nothing can be done right now.
Note that with 2FA enabled there is no workaround possible if you lost access to the authenticator app.
cor-el said
Note that with 2FA enabled there is no workaround possible if you lost access to the authenticator app.
I carefully reviewed the provided information before writing this request.
In my case, it's important to note that I don't need to recover access to any saved data. I'm just asking for the ability to create a new account with an existing email address.
From my perspective, which might be amateurish, my request seems simple to fulfill — just delete the existing account linked to the email address I need, so I can create a new one.
Evgeny_tsxqxyg5f7, I understand that you are seeking only an account deletion, and are not seeking access to the user data associated with the account.
But I doubt even that can be achieved if the person requesting the deletion cannot prove ownership.
For an account with 2fa enabled, the user needs to provide two types of identification, and being able to prove control of an email address provides only one factor.
I think Mozilla needs to protect users from unauthorised account-deletions, as well as unauthorised account access.
Hence even for deletion requests of 2fa-protected accounts, they still need something extra from the user, such as a recovery code etc?
TechHorse, The key point is that, as the owner of the email account, I have the right to request the removal of any associations with this email address from any service.
Thanks for your opinion, but it doesn't really help solve the problem. Instead, it seems to look for reasons not to find a solution. This is an example of overthinking. It's hard to imagine a situation where someone loses access to all their data just because someone else gained control of their email address, even hypothetically.
Either way, the data will be saved on offline devices. And from a privacy standpoint, this is the ideal solution without any contradictions. It's better for the data to be deleted than for it to fall into the hands of third parties.
Take a look at how other industry players handle such hypothetical problems. They use methods like notifications of suspicious activities with the option to quickly revert changes, or cool-down periods where final data deletion happens after days or even weeks.
Chosen Solution
You can perhaps try to get Mozilla Account support with ticket at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/mozilla-account/form
I think the email used in this case will be product-help at firefox.com
James, thanks for the address, this was helpful❤️