Don't tell even the most trustworthy of friends, for a mere slip of their tongue could give a clue of your password to hackers.;
, Let's assume you've been posting tons of stuff about your favorite thing on Facebook or Twitter. If your password is related, it makes it much easier for a hacker to guess your password. Therefore, as much as you want to, do not use a password related to something you like or what you post. Make it an extremely long, nonsensical, and unexpected garble of capital/lowercase letters, numbers, and preferably symbols. Of course, if you know you have a bad memory and won't remember the password, don't make it too arcane. You don't want to be locked out of your own Gmail account! There are many short but hard-to-crack passwords. Also, don't use your account password on any other accounts. Don't keep any password information for your other accounts on Gmail. Otherwise, the hacker(s) can crack into even more sensitive information, such as your bank account.
 If a hacker is determined enough, they will eventually succeed. But Two-Step Verification makes it so much harder for them to crack into your account! Not only will they have to guess your password, they will need access to your phone. A text message or voice call with the verification code will be sent to your phone each time someone (or even you) tries to sign in to your account from a non-trusted computer. Unless you have hateful, hacking siblings and/or parents that share your computer, make your computer trusted! Otherwise, you will have to look at your phone and type in the verification code every single time. It is especially necessary if you have siblings skilled in hacking, which is a common case. Make every other computer untrustworthy! That means, even if it's your far off uncle's computer! And of course, a backup code will never hurt in case you do not have access to your main phone.
 If hackers even with a verification code are doing suspicious things on your account, this will lock them out of your account.
 Your IP address will be displayed on the bottom. And for the sign in details, it should have your IP address (unless you went elsewhere). Let's say you're in Nevada, and you use Google Chrome. If you checked the account activity and it showed an IP address from Rhode Island and the browser was Mozilla Firefox, your account was most likely compromised. Just because you set the alert preference to alert you for strange activity doesn't mean you're safe, of course. The most skilled hackers can make their activity seem completely innocent while ruining your account.
 There is always a chance. If you have a recovery e-mail address, use it to send a message to Gmail about the compromising of your main account. If they take it seriously, your account should be safe in a little while. The other way to use your recovery e-mail if your password was changed is the e-mail it receives upon the Gmail account's password being changed. If you did not change it, it means someone else did. In that message is a link to change your password. Immediately change it. If the hacker(s) already sent messages to all your contacts (for example, to send them money), contact them as soon as possible and let them know any such messages are scams.
Never tell anyone your password.
Don't pick a password that reflects your interests.
Enable Two-Step Verification!,
Make sure in your Gmail account, the "Alert Preference" option reads "Show an alert for unusual activity".
Regularly check your Account Activity!,
Don't lose hope!
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