Root User Locked Out of S3 Bucket – Bucket Exists but Is Inaccessible

Question

I am experiencing an issue where my AWS root user is completely locked out of an S3 bucket. The bucket does not appear when listing S3 buckets in my account, yet if I try to create it, AWS says it already exists.

Steps I’ve Taken:
Checked my AWS Account: Confirmed I am logged in as root.

Listed Buckets (aws s3api list-buckets) – Returns nothing.

Checked Bucket Ownership (aws s3api get-bucket-ownership-controls) – AccessDenied.

Tried Creating the Bucket (aws s3api create-bucket) – AWS says the bucket already exists.

Confirmed IAM Policies: No restrictive SCPs, and I am not in an AWS Organization.

Followed AWS Documentation and Online Guides with no resolution.

Questions:
How can I confirm whether this bucket still belongs to my account or was transferred elsewhere?

If the bucket is stuck in AWS’s backend (e.g., orphaned or pending deletion), what can be done to resolve this?

Are there known cases where an S3 bucket becomes inaccessible to the owning account?

Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Blake · Accepted Answer

The answer is a bit embarrassing - in this case, I had forgot that s3 buckets are *globally unique*.

I thought I had created the bucket before, but really I just was trying to create a bucket with a name that already existed in my region.

shankar · Answer

Hello Blake,

I recommend the following knowledge article listed here https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/s3-accidentally-denied-access. After following the article if you are still facing issues I would recommend to raise a Technical Support case from your AWS account by selecting service as Simple Storage Service.

Thank you.

Root User Locked Out of S3 Bucket – Bucket Exists but Is Inaccessible

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