If your account has been locked, your problems have just started

If a “Sorry, your account has been disabled” message appears when you attempt to log in to your account, that’s when your troubles are just beginning.

Even if you believe that your account has been disabled in error, and you are going to contact support to let them investigate your situation further, it’s likely you are going to have some trouble for many hours.

If the company disconnecting the service is one like Google, and you work in the digital marketing industry, then the pain may continue for many days (if you ever have the chance to have your account restored at all).

These kinds of things have happened for quite a while in the past, and the last time I found one was not too long ago.

It looks like once the account has been disabled, everything is gone: from Gmail to Reader, from Webmaster Forum to Google Docs. Even AdWords, their primary earning method, is locked too (well, in this case it’s quite funny, as the ads continue to be displayed and your budget reduced).

And that’s the reason for this article.

Whoever you are, a locked account means thousands of pounds (or dollars) of damage.

If you work in the digital industry, and you live in Europe or the US, in theory your Google account is the thing you use most after your browser (can you imagine an alternative universe?). So I’ll let you imagine what this loss could mean.

But whoever you are, if you have relied on some online service (regardless of whether it’s a Google service or not), no longer being able to access your online data is the most painful digital sickness you can get.

So, relying on services in the cloud is not always the best choice, especially if, while accepting the TOS, you quickly skim them without paying too much attention to phrases like “The company reserves the right to shut down the service without notice”, or something along those lines.

How can I get back my account?

I’m afraid, my friend, but I don’t have the answer you are looking for. The best thing I can suggest is to approach customer service and make them aware their actions are literally letting you down.

However, I can suggest something you should already have done: a backup.

It’s not a strange or complicated concept, is it?

OK, backing up a Google Account isn’t quite the same as sticking a bunch of files onto a DVD or a USB stick, but the concept is the same.

Let’s start with the mail

For sure, email is the most important aspect of our digital life. We can have dozens of social network profiles, plenty of notifications and plenty of alerts, but if our email address is locked, there is no way to stay in touch with the rest of the world.

My suggestion is to buy your own domain name. Yes, you read that right. Having your own domain will not only help you with your own brand management (or online reputation), but will also assure you that, in circumstances like the one described above, you will be able to move your mail service elsewhere within a few hours.

As the mail protocol has been designed with redundancy in mind, you will be able to stay “offline” for up to 48 hours without losing anything. And trust me, you can do whatever you want with that much time.

So, it doesn’t matter if you rely on Gmail or any other provider — it would just be a matter of changing the IP address on a few A records.

Google contact

As soon as you enter your email and press the contact button, the next interface that loads has an export link on the rightmost side of the screen, underneath the border.

Google Calendar

In this case, the best solution is to share the calendar with other people, and even give them the right to edit events. Click on "Calendar settings", then go to "Share this calendar" and fill in the form at the bottom to share the calendar with specific people.

Google Analytics

Once in your account, edit the profile you want to share and add an account as an admin. If your account contains more than one profile, you have to repeat this action for the number of profiles available (or the ones you want to “share”). However, once the account has already been added, you have to select the second option button that says “add an already existing user”.

Google AdWords

In this circumstance, the Desktop Application for Google AdWords may be our best friend. As the app can perform a full backup of all the information in your account, the best option is to use it, so that you will eventually be ready to re-upload the information into a new account.

I need to be honest with you: I’ve never tried doing such a thing, but it should be possible.

Other Google services

As the above are the main services I normally use, I don’t know what else to add. However, I think that at this stage you may have understood what to do to prevent data loss in case a Google account is locked.