By Renie Ravin, co-founder of InkySites. Updated 7 November 2026. Every company's steps below were read on its own help pages on 7 November 2026. This is general guidance, not legal advice. If what you lost is your web address itself, read who owns my website instead.
Which login have you lost?
Your website usually rests on separate logins. Your web address is held at a registrar. Your hosting is where your site's files live. Your editor is where you change pages, such as Wix, Squarespace, Shopify or WordPress. Sometimes one company holds two. The free site check on inkysites.com shows what your site runs on, where the page reveals it. Once you know the name, you know whose recovery to use. For the web address itself, see Who owns my website.
Get back into your email inbox first
Every reset link goes to the email on the account, so the inbox comes first. Watch for the [email protected] trap: that mailbox may sit on the hosting you are locked out of. On Google Workspace, Zoho Mail or Microsoft 365, an administrator can reset your password from the admin console. If you are the only administrator, Google and Zoho let you prove you own the web address instead. For a personal Gmail, Google asks questions to confirm it is yours. With the inbox back, every other reset can reach you.
Locked out of Wix, Squarespace, Shopify or WordPress.com?
Each builder starts with the email on the account, then asks for proof your site is yours. We read each builder's own help pages on 7 November 2026.
- Wix: get the account email back from your email provider first, then try your recovery phone number if you added one. After that, Wix's Account Recovery form asks for a photo of you and of a government ID.
- Squarespace: the reset link goes to the email you created your site with. If you lost that email, support can help once you prove who you are and that you own your site. It may ask for a government photo ID, business documents or billing records.
- Shopify: if you own the store and lost the account email, ask to change it through Shopify's account recovery. It may ask for a government photo ID and a selfie, with your name matching the account exactly. A password reset leaves two-step sign-in on.
- WordPress.com: the Account Recovery form works without logging in. Have one of these ready to prove the account is yours: a transaction ID from a payment, the activation link, or a two-step code.
Self-hosted WordPress: reset it through your hosting
First check which WordPress you have. WordPress.com suggests looking up your site. If the host shown is anything except WordPress.com, yours is self-hosted, and your hosting company is where you go. If the reset email never arrives, WordPress documents other ways to reset the password. Each uses your hosting: its database tool, your site's files, or a small script you delete afterwards. Hostinger's control panel can also reset it and change the admin email. So with your hosting login, you can get into WordPress without the email.
Can your host reset your hosting password?
Yes. A hosting company can set a new cPanel password without the old one. At GoDaddy, your GoDaddy account and your cPanel login are separate, and the account reset goes to the email on file. Hostinger's one recovery form covers a lost email, a forgotten email or a lost two-step device. It needs a payment receipt from your bank or card, and Hostinger's own invoices do not count. BigRock sends a reset link to your registered email. Find two proofs now, before anyone asks: the bank statement line for your hosting, and the last four digits of the card that paid for it.
When someone else's name is on the account
At Wix, Squarespace and Shopify, only the account holder can move your site to you, and Wix goes by whose email is the login. So if a designer or former employee opened it, the quickest route is asking them to move it to you. If they might still answer, read Can't reach your web designer. If they are gone for good, read My web designer disappeared. Without them, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com each have a route, and each asks you to prove your site is yours, so keep your payment records close.
How to avoid being locked out again
- Use a login email that lives off your own hosting, such as a Gmail or Workspace address you control
- Add a recovery phone number to your website builder and email accounts
- Keep a second administrator on your business email, as Microsoft advises
- Save the bank statement line and card digits for your hosting and site plan
- Ask whoever set things up to move every account into your own name
When to keep what you have
If you are back in and can change your own pages, you may not need anything new. A working login and an editor you know are worth keeping. Set up the recovery details from the list above and carry on. Change your setup only if your site itself is holding you back. Once your logins are in your own name, your site is yours to run as it is.
Where InkySites fits if you want a fresh start
InkySites builds a fresh version of your current site, free, from the pages already public, so you need no login to your old one. It arrives by email within 48 hours, no card. If you like it, it is $29 a month for hosting and unlimited reasonable changes. You ask for changes by email, so there is no editor login to lose. You sign in with an emailed link or Google, so the inbox advice applies here too. We do not recover logins, contact your old designer or host, or take over accounts. Your web address stays yours, and your code is handed back whenever you ask.
Questions people ask.
Can I get back into my website without the old email address?
It depends on where your site lives. With self-hosted WordPress, your hosting login lets you reset the WordPress password without the email. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and WordPress.com each have their own recovery, which asks you to prove your site is yours through ID, a payment record or a two-step code. Getting the old inbox back is still the first thing to try, because every reset link goes there.
Will I lose my website content if I cannot log in?
No. Nothing published on your live site is lost because a login is lost. Your text and photos are visible to anyone, and you can save them while you work on getting back in. InkySites can also build a fresh version of your site from those public pages, free, with no login to your old site.
Can someone recover my Gmail or Google Workspace account for me?
For a personal Gmail, you cannot call Google for help signing in, and Google says it does not work with any service that claims to recover accounts. Google asks questions to confirm the account is yours. For Google Workspace, another administrator can reset your password. If you are the only one, Google can ask you to add a record to your web address's DNS settings to prove you own it.
What proof does a hosting company or website builder ask for?
It varies by company. Wix asks for a photo of you and a government ID. Squarespace may ask for a government photo ID, business documents or billing records. Shopify may ask for a government photo ID and a selfie. Hostinger needs a payment receipt from your bank or card, and its own invoices do not count. The easiest proofs to find now are the bank statement line for your hosting and the last four digits of the card that paid.
Can I log in to an account my designer or ex-employee opened?
Not without them. Wix and WordPress.com both say they cannot get you into someone else's account, and at Wix, Squarespace and Shopify only the account holder can move your site to you. So ask that person to move it. If they cannot be reached, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com each have a route for that case. WordPress.com wants proof you control the account, the web address or the payment behind it, and ID alone does not count.
See what your site runs on, free
Run the free site check to see what your site runs on and who holds your web address. No email needed, and nothing on your site changes. Or get a free preview of a fresh site by email within 48 hours.