Would it allow you to move forward if you set up a brand new gmail account now?

If these older ones are so disused that you don't remember passwords, it's not like there's something there to protect or insist on continuing with. Or am I missing something?

Only the newer one's password isn't working - the other I've accessed today. I wanted to use that newer gmail as it is the one linked to here! And I have other reasons for wanting to keep it active. I do not want to have the older, working gmail account connected to the Chromebook for personal reasons. But right now as it is I have a non-functioning new Chromebook. : (

Ok, so if I set it up to the older gmail that I don't really want to connect with it, can I easily change the connecting email account in the future?????

On your mac, you should be able to sign out of your older account (option in top right), and then try to sign in with the newer account.

Regarding the account you cant get into, if the recovery codes arent working, then you’ll likely need to work with google to help reset it. I cant say I’ve had your problems but surely you understand their need to confirm its actually you trying to get into your account.

You can have more than one user account signing into the chromebook. https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/6088201?hl=en. I’m not sure what additional complexities that adds to your experience, but it should at least allow you to get in and use your device.

Thank you Elmer and Steve. Steve, in that link above, it says sign into google. And click on your photo. What am I getting into? I've never had to sign into Google before. I'm a very private person and don't like giving out any more info than absolutely necessary. One of the reasons I've never been involved with Facebook, etc.

You sign into google so you can keep all of your bookmarks, history, and google account info synced between all of your devices. If you dont want to sign in, then just sign out of the gmail page. There should be a “not you” link somewhere. Clicking that will log you out of the old account so you can get into the new one.

I’m not a facebook guy either, but I do use android and google products and syncing my account accross all of my devices works great for me. Your mileage may vary.

Let's take a deep breath and start over. I think for whatever personal reasons you have you've blown this up into much more than it is. It's a "lost password for Gmail" access issue, not a Chromebook one.

The Chromebook wants a Gmail address to reference your connection. Among the reasons why that's necessary is because Chromebook has limited onboard memory and MS Office-type docs - word processing, spreadsheets, notes, etc - use software from and are saved online in Google Docs, to an account tied to a Gmail account. You can work on such projects on any device, save it to your Google Docs account, and then access it from any other device, including the Chromebook. What sets your saved docs apart and limits access is that they key is your gmail account name and password. That tie-in gets set up as the Chromebook is set up.

There are probably other reasons too.

End your suffering by using a Gmail account you can access. Remember for this and all other accounts, use a system (whether on paper, using a password app, a text file, or whatever) that's always available to you and easily accessed so that you can find your passwords and update the list when you change one.

There's no need to send Google a photo, nor to worry about consequences of a privacy invasion. I hope your other aborted efforts with Gmail accounts you've lost the password for haven't poisoned the well to prevent an easy setup of this Chromebook with a working account. If so, call Acer Tech Support to get it straightened out. Good luck.