SSH key stuck in old inaccessible account - cannot add to current account

[Johannes Barop]

Hi

I'm trying to add my SSH key to my current Bitbucket account, but I get the error: "Someone has already added that SSH key."

After investigation, I found that the SSH key is registered to an old Bitbucket account that I no longer have access to. I cannot log into that old account anymore.

I can (and will) generate a separate SSH key specifically for Bitbucket as a workaround, but it would be much better if I could continue using my primary SSH key that I use across all other services.

Questions:

• Can support remove the SSH key from my old inaccessible account?
• Is there a way to prove ownership and reclaim the SSH key for my current account?
• What is the official process for handling this scenario?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Syahrul]

Hey @Johannes Barop 

Welcome to the community.

I understand that you registered an SSH key to an old account that you no longer have access to. Unfortunately, without being able to log in to that account and remove the SSH key from there, there are no other options available. SSH keys are tied to the user account they were added to, and without access to that account we’re unable to delete or manage those keys.

Your best option is to generate a new, separate SSH key specifically for Bitbucket, without changing the SSH keys used by your other applications. This way, you don’t need to reset or reconfigure everything else.

You can follow our guide below on how to configure multiple SSH keys on your machine:

https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/managing-multiple-bitbucket-user-ssh-keys-on-one-device/

Regards,
Syahrul