How do I know if my email has been hacked?
2 min read · Updated October 15, 2026
Common signs are password reset emails you did not request, sent messages you did not write, logins from unfamiliar devices or places, new forwarding rules or filters, and friends reporting strange emails from you. Check your account’s recent activity page, then change the password and sign out everywhere.
Warning signs inside your inbox
- ✓Sent folder items you do not recognise, or replies to emails you never sent.
- ✓Messages that vanish: a hacker may delete security alerts so you do not notice.
- ✓New filters or forwarding addresses you did not create, quietly copying your mail elsewhere.
- ✓Password reset or verification emails for services you did not touch.
- ✓Contacts telling you they received spam or odd links from your address.
Warning signs in your account settings
Every major provider shows where and when your account was accessed. Look for devices, locations or times you do not recognise.
- ✓A recovery email or phone number you do not recognise.
- ✓Unfamiliar devices in the list of signed-in sessions.
- ✓A changed display name, signature or auto-reply.
- ✓Two-factor authentication turned off, or a new authenticator or security key added.
Find out if your email is in a known breach
Run the free Leakill check. No password needed, no signup, and you see the result in seconds.
Hacked versus spoofed
Sometimes spam appears to come from your address even though nobody got into your account. This is called spoofing: the attacker forges the sender name. In that case your inbox and settings look completely normal. The giveaway is that your Sent folder has no trace of the messages. Spoofing is annoying but a different problem from account takeover.
Was your email part of a leak?
A leaked address is not the same as a hacked account, but leaks are how many takeovers begin. Attackers take email and password pairs from old breaches and try them on current accounts. Running a free breach check tells you whether your address appears in known leaks, which helps you decide how urgent a password change is.
If you think you have been hacked
- 1Change your email password now, from a device you trust, to a long unique passphrase.
- 2Sign out of all other sessions and devices in your account security settings.
- 3Remove unknown forwarding rules, filters, connected apps and recovery details.
- 4Turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app, a passkey or a security key.
- 5Change passwords on important accounts that use this email (banking, shopping, social media).
- 6Warn your contacts not to click links that came from you recently.
Frequently asked questions
Can someone read my email without me knowing?+
Yes. A forwarding rule or a connected app can copy your mail without leaving obvious traces, so check filters, forwarding settings and authorised apps.
Does a strange login mean I was hacked?+
Not always. VPNs, travel and mobile networks can show unexpected locations. If the device is also unfamiliar, treat it as suspicious.
Should I delete the account?+
Usually no. Recover it, secure it and review what it is connected to. Deleting an email account can lock you out of other services.
Stop guessing. Check your email in seconds.
The free Leakill check looks for your email address in known breach records and tells you whether it was exposed. If it was, an optional detailed report lists the incidents, dates, sources, the kinds of data involved and practical next steps. It is a one-off report, not a subscription.
A breach match is a warning signal, not proof that someone has access to your account today. No public database covers every breach, so a clean result lowers risk without guaranteeing safety.