Also true if I use my gmail address. I'll confess that for many websites I don't care that much. Depending on a password manager would be better, though.

Semi-related anecdote: I lost my Reddit account to a cryptocurrency spammer due to a weak password and had to create another, so I lost my preferred username. Annoying but not a huge deal. (Reddit did freeze the old account but wouldn't give it back.)

No. You just cant password reset if you lose access to email. You can still log in.

The email is ultimately the second factor that lets you make important changes to the account in many cases. For example, changing your password. It's more important than the password in nearly every security critical account I have.

This is not always the case. Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email. Happened with my email pointed at a .tk domain and I had to call freenom a bunch to get the domain back.

>Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email.

I still remember when you could create Reddit accounts without an email...

Brace yourself: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202506/reddit-considers-worl...

Since the last few years Reddit has basically just become Facebook 2.0 and it's not even worth using at all. They probably got acquired by private equity or something.

That’s why you shouldn’t be using a Gmail address, and instead have your own domain for email.

I personally have my personal email as Google account email, so even when I lose my access to google I am still in control of my domain (and email).

And still couldn't sign-in-with-google. On an email linked that way, so no password recovery. Would likely be a new account - with bonus "that address is already in use" problem.

I agree, there may be an additional step necessary if the page doesn't handle this case already, but this way you can still prove (more easily) ownership to the support.