Google Calendar problem

[David_Spardo]

In a rush this morning I accidentally deleted all my history. Everything needs a password now, except here for some reason, but the big problem is Google Calendar.

After jumping through all the hoops I was then told that my account had been restored, but it is not mine, it is one I created for my wife simply in order to get to her Ameli account. Nothing else, and even that still didn’t work.

Every time I try to sign in to my account I end up in Fran’s. This is really serious as I have lost everything in my Calendar. I even put my gmail address in but it still takes me to hers. Any ideas how to get round this disaster?

[graham]

What was it you deleted?

[David_Spardo]

In Firefox, History, Clear History, Clear All History.
I do it almost every evening for no really good reason, just habit, but only for Last 2 Hours.
With my mind on other thngs after forgetting to do it last night, I pressed Clear All History, possibly because I realised that first thing in the morning there wasn’t much point in just the last 2 hours.

I thought the only problem was extreme irritation at having to put in all my various passwords for my daily activities, email, calendar, word reference etc. but when I managed to restore Calendar all my entries were blank and I realised that I was in my wife’s Google account not mine and can find no way of getting back to mine. It simply, even with my own name, gmail address and password, takes me back to her account and calendar, not mine.

[graham]

Have you tried logging in to your google account?

[_Brian]

Have you ever used a different computer or smartphone to access your Google account? If you have then the log in details will still be on that device.

[graham]

anything in this reference which helps?

How to Change Your Default Google Account in 2022

[David_Spardo]

Thanks both.
@graham yes, several times but it always takes me to Fran’s totally dormant account. It didn’t dawn on me when it refused to accept my password.
@_Brian Yes, I used to use a laptop before I started with this pc. It takes at least 15-20 minutes to fire up so I’ll go and start that now while I try out Graham’s link.

Hooray, got into my calendar on the laptop, but what do I do now to recover it here, don’t want to risk losing it again.
BTW @graham that link seemed more angled to changing an account, which presumably you needed first to get into, rather than recover an existing one.

[_Brian]

I’m glad the old laptop worked. I can send you step-by-step instructions later. I could try to do it from memory but I may not be able to remember every step correctly. I’ll be back at my pc this evening but with luck, someone else will be able to furnish the exact steps more quickly.

[David_Spardo]

Thanks Brian, I won’t touch a thing.

[graham]

I’ve not done it myself (not needed to) but would that involve right click with the mouse on the Google Calendar tab on the laptop and using the option “send tab to device” assuming the laptop is “aware” of the other devices on the network of course…
@David_Spardo once you have it sorted, I would recommend a couple of things… One is to create a Firefox Account and the other is to use an extension in FF such as Bitwarden to manage your passwords.

[David_Spardo]

I think we have had this discussion @graham , about my reluctance to trust outside bodies and this business with Google only re-inforces my distrust. Yes, I know it was something I did wrong, but nevertheless there is something wrong with Google if it totally allows a slip of a finger to not only throw years of data out of the window while at the same time continously defer me to someone completely different, just because we have the same surname. Not even sure about that because Fran’s password has nothing to connect her to me.

I will keep using Calendar, because it holds years of reference, but from now on I will create and use a spreadsheet on my externals alongside it.

[graham]

@David_Spardo

but nevertheless there is something wrong with Google if it totally allows a slip of a finger to not only throw years of data out of the window

seems a bit like damned if you do, damned if you don’t allow someone the choice to do something with their data.
When I used to write software, when coming to the option to delete something I always programmed in something on the lines “are you sure you want to do this No(default)/Yes?” then again when Yes chosen “are you sure?” and if answer to both is yes - then it’s gone!
I still had people complaining that they had deleted their data
I do recall your reluctance to trust others with your data but isn’t that what you are doing with your calendar information anyway? Sorry to labour the point but if you are so concerned about it, go back to using a filofax or similar and hope you don’t leave it somewhere…

[Fleur]

Good tip Graham. After trying various password managers with disappointing levels of usability, confusing interfaces, doubts about security, on Mac I’ve set up the Bitwarden add-on in Firefox and on iPad I have the BW app. It is a reassuringly good experience. I still do have minor panics. But all I have to do now is remember the Bitwarden master password… oops, what on earth is it ?

[graham]

@Fleur

oops, what on earth is it ?

well… the password for bitwarden is incredibly strong (for a reason) and runs to many characters in a mix with upper and lower case letters and numbers.
There are some hints here as to how to set things up…

Your Master Password | Bitwarden Help Center

There are a mix of 15 characters and numbers in mine…

[Fleur]

Mine is similar. Perhaps 2FA is a good idea too.

[graham]

I’ve resisted that for BW but have it in place for other things. Since we both have smartphones, we cross over on the 2FA… for example. on our banking app used on my mobile, any code goes to my wife’s phone and vice versa.

[David_Spardo]

@graham

When I used to write software, when coming to the option to delete something I always programmed in something on the lines “are you sure you want to do this No(default)/Yes?” then again when Yes chosen “are you sure?” and if answer to both is yes - then it’s gone!
I still had people complaining that they had deleted their data

I’m ashamed to say that was me this morning. I was under some pressure my mind was elsewhere and faced with something new I just kept on tapping. But having said that, recovering the situation should not lead me down the path it has been doing. I can understand it being gone altogether, but not that I should be given access to someone else’s data as a consequence. The fact that she has no data is neither here nor there.

One thought. My calendar is still there on the screen of the laptop. Would I be able to copy the link at the top, send it to myself, then pick it up on the pc and copy and paste it? Or would that merely copy that one page? Just a thought.

[graham]

Its worth a try David. That basically is what I alluded to in my previous post about “send tab to device”. Not sure if it would be defeated by what is already running on your FF though. In the top right corner should be your Google user icon (on Calendar) which you could click on (if it doesn’t) to select “add another account” - being your google account.

[David_Spardo]

Got it, it worked. What a relief.
Thank you.

[_Brian]

@David_Spardo
Right. I’m back in front of my PC, earlier than expected, so here’s how to see your Google password on your old computer and reinstate the account on your current computer.
Turn on your old computer
Go and make some coffee/tea/dinner while it boots up (!)
Open Chrome - you should see a window that looks a bit like this (note I’ve blurred the centre)::

Find the little circle icon in the top right of the window - it may have your initials in it of a picture that represents you - circled in red in the next image

Move your mouse over that icon/image and left-click, once. A new box will appear like this:

Find the line ‘manage your google account’

Left click on ‘manage your Google acccount’ and a different screen will appear:

Look at the left of the screen and find the Google Account menu. The second line down reads ‘Personal info’. Click on ‘Personal info’ and another screen appears, headed ‘Your profile in Google Services’

Scroll down this page until you see a section entitled ‘Password’

Click on the arrow to the right of the line of asterisks to reveal your password

Tick the ‘Show password’ box and the line of asterisks changes to reveal your actual password.

Write this password down very carefully, ensuring that you get upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols correct.

This is the password that is used across all Google services to identify you.

You can now close the window - having NOT changed your password! - and, indeed, shut down the computer.

Now go to your current computer, open a Google window and click on the small circular logo at top right as we did in the first step. At the bottom of the screen, select ‘add another account’ and enter your registered email address and the password you retrieved. You should now be able to access all your Google services as before. If you won’t let you carry out this step, then make sure you have ALL of your Google account passwords (you mentioned a second account) and select ‘sign out of all Google accounts’. You will then be able to add as many Google accounts as you wish.

I hope this has helped. Please ask if anything is not clear or does not work…

Good luck,
Brian