Before opting to reset anything - if you leave the speaker from work powered off temporarily and you put the original home speaker back to where it was (i.e. with nothing changed) do you then see that home system as before in your sonos App?

No, it no longer works at all. I can’t get the controller to open on my computer and when i try to open it on my phone it says it can’t find a system. I’ve downloaded new apps, rebooted everything, even my computer router and updated my phone. Nothing seems to work. Ive been messing around with this for 2 days 

Which version of the ‘Play:5’ are the ‘home’ and ‘work’ speakers? 
Have you got the home speaker powered on and wired to the local router?

Have you already tried factory resetting either speaker? If not, I would perhaps not choose to do that at this stage. 

Note: It’s not  possible to setup a speaker with the Desktop Sonos controller App, but it is possible with the mobile controller, but can you say which mobile/operating system you are using and whether you are using the S1 (black icon) or S2 (gold icon) sonos controller. 

the one im trying to set up is the gen 2 on the right. I tried to wire it directly to the home router with cable but that didn’t work either. I’ve tried both of the s1 and s2 controler on my phone. the s2 app says the speaker isn’t compatible and the s1 app says it can’t find the speaker. I tried resetting both of the speakers to factory as well. I can get to the point where there is the flashing green light and on the app i try to add a device. When i get to the poiint of pushing the button on the back it says it can’t find it  

Your community profile here mentions a Play: 3 and a Play:5 (gen1) so it’s important to be sure about the generation of the Play:5 speaker as the gen1 will not setup on the S2 App - it is S1 compatible only.

I mentioned the phone controller operating system version in my earlier post, as that is also very important as earlier versions maybe incompatible ..and perhaps more importantly the recent iOS 14.2 had/has issues with Apple WAC (Wireless Accessory Configuration) and their new ‘Private Address’ security feature, which causes problems with a sonos system setup… it’s therefore important to sort out those few things and I suspect your setup issues might then be resolved. Any recent compatible Android mobile controller should be okay.
 

So if using Apple iOS 14.2 - I would first upgrade to the latest iOS update. Wire the speaker to the router and factory reset (so the status LED flashes Green) ...and if it is a Gen1 Play:5 then use the S1 app (you are best to remove the S2 App before setup). If it’s Gen 2 then use the S2 App (you are best to remove the S1 App before setup).

Important Note: S1 devices ‘may’ now need an existing S1 system to setup any S1 factory devices so if the problems persists, then I would suggest contacting Sonos Customer Care via this LINK

The Sonod product factory reset procedure is shown HERE

OK so here is a new problem. When i originally bought the sonos i gave an email address and i now have no idea what my password might have been. That email is no longer in service as the company is now out of business. When i try to sign in to the sonos2 app it asks for the password to my old email and if i forgot it it would send the instructions to my old email account. How can i update to my new email when i can’t use the old one to get instructions 

If you have totally forgotten the password, when you factory reset the speakers and controller, it gives you the opportunity to begin from a new setup. If you are able to recall the password there is an option in ‘Settings/System’ to transfer the Sonos system to a new account/email. It depends if you can recall the password, or not?

I’ve tried all the ones that i thought it might be but nothing works, I need to set up a new account but i need to get into the old email to do that, but the old email no longer exists  

Just reset your speakers if that’s okay with yourself - I think you mentioned that you did that anyway.
 

To reset your controller - you will find that option in "Settings/App Preferences"

just tried that and it sent me the verification code which all worked but then when i try to update the system it says there is a problem and wont go any further. when i click on add a product or add your play 5 it keeps asking me for the password to my old (non existant) email account  if i try to enter the new account info that i just set up it says this email does not match our records 

Maybe sign out the app and back in again with your new account credentials ...and just to clarify the speaker you are adding has been powered off and factory reset?

yup i tried that and yes i’ve factory reset several times now. This is amazing. All i wanted to do was unplug a speaker and plug it in somewhere else. I thank you for all the help you;ve tried. Sonos has been absolutely no help at all and i can’t be more frustrated. You can’t reach them by phone and when you try to chat, in the 3 days that ive been messing around with this there has only been someone available for an hour or so. He basically told me to update my phone and best of luck. Just aweful!    

Once you did changed the account you will certainly need to reset the speaker that you’re trying to add.. and it should attach to the account you’re logged into.

Note, as well as transferring the account there is the ‘change email’ option too in the "settings/account’ area of the app, but I assume you’ve checked that ..maybe also check your Sonos online account profile looks okay by logging in with the new credentials via this link:

https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/user/profile/

I clicked on the link you provided and on my computer I was able to log in and it says “account verified”. When i try to do it on the phone it comes back and says “email or password do not match our records”. I deleted and reinstalled the s2 app. When i tried to log in using the email and password that was “verified” it says “incorrect password or email” When i tried to “create a new account” it said “that email is alrready in use”.  I am logged in to the account to use the app, but then it asks me to log in again to connect the speaker it keeps on saying “account does not match our records”.   I even tried resetting my password. The screen is actually open on my computer that says the new password is verified and when i try to log in on the phone to install the speaker it says the email and password do not match their records

Personally, if I wanted to move speakers regularly between systems I would buy a Boost. Then take Boost and speaker(s) and just wire the Boost to the router in each location. Nothing to change. No hassles.

Edit - sorry just realised that you have systems in both locations

the way things have been going for this supposedly simple thing i don’t think i would want to buy or recommend anything to do with sonos

Please bear in mind that Sonos is designed to be a permanent home multiroom system 

Factory resetting and re-adding each time should be all that is required. The simplest solution would be to get another speaker  ....

John I think part of the problem is that i haven’t touched either of the systems since i originally bought them and now the original email that i had when i set up the systems no longer exists. I simply wanted to make 1 simple change. I just find it so frustrating that I can’t talk to an actual person on the phone to get help. The systems have had a few bumps but have worked just fine up to this point. The lack of support doesn’t make me confident that spending more money on additional items will help.

and yes i have factory reset the speaker. 

bilbo_frustrated67

I’m not sure what may have happened in your case as usually moving/adding a factory reset speaker to a different setup is a simple process, albeit forgetting the password and transferring your setup to a new account may have introduced some complexity, but it might be best now if you chat online to Sonos Customer Care via this LINK (partway down the page on the left) to sort out any account issues, as they are perhaps best positioned to see what accounts exist and are now in use.