If you suddenly can’t access your Yahoo! account anymore, you’ll need a hand with getting back in: we’re here to help you with that.
Yahoo! is an American web service provider launched in 1994 by founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, and it is considered as one of the pioneers of the early Internet era. Initially a web directory, during its long career Yahoo! evolved into a provider of many different web services, such as a search engine (Yahoo! Search), an email service (Yahoo! Mail), a news website (Yahoo! News), a Q&A website (Yahoo! Answers), and many more.
You can create your own free Yahoo! account to benefit from all of these services – similarly to a Google Account – but you might run into the problem of not being able to log into it. Wether you find yourself in this situation, we’re going to explore the reasons for which you’ve been locked out of your account and, more importantly, we’ll tell you how to recover it.
Why can’t I access my Yahoo! Account?
The most frequent reasons are:
- 1) you forgot your password or Yahoo! ID
- 2) “Invalid ID or Password” error
- 3) “First time signing in here?” message
- 4) your account is locked
- 5) sign-in screen loops or reloads
How to fix sign-in problems
1) You forgot your password or Yahoo! ID
- First, try using the Sign-in Helper to locate your Yahoo ID and regain access to your account by entering in your recovery mobile number or alternate email address.
- And if you know your Yahoo ID but need to reset your password, make sure to create a strong password (learn more here) once you’re back in to your account.
- If your browser remembers passwords, you can also check your autofill settings (learn more here) to find your password.
2) “Invalid ID or Password” error
This error message means that the password and Yahoo ID combination you entered doesn’t match what is on Yahoo!’s record. Try following these intructions:
- check caps lock or num lock keys – these keys change the value of what you’re actually typing
- update your browser autofill settings – if your browser remembers passwords, you may need to update your autofill settings (learn how here) after changing your password
- try another web browser – if you can access your account in another browser, the problem isn’t with your account; you’ll need to fix the issue in your preferred browser (learn how here)
- someone changed your password – an unauthorized party could have broken in and changed your password. Use the Sign-in Helper to get back into your account and change your password. Then, review your account settings to undo changes you didn’t make and secure your account (learn more here)
3) “First time signing in here?” message
If you sign in from a device, program, or location that you never used before, Yahoo! may ask you to enter a verification code (sent to your recovery mobile phone or email) to verify that it’s really you.
If your recovery info is wrong or inaccessible, you won’t be able to regain access to your account again, but you’re always welcome to sign up for a new account (go here). Just make sure to keep your new account’s recovery info up-to-date (learn more here).
4) Your account is locked
To protect your account, it may be temporarily locked after too many unsuccessful attempts to sign in. It will unlock automatically after 12 hours, but you can always regain access immediately using the Sign-in Helper.
If you’ve been asked to verify your identity multiple times, Yahoo!’s system probably detected a threat to your account. When this happens, access may be temporarily locked to protect your information. Here’s why your account might be repeatedly locked:
- Yahoo! detected a risk to your password
- your IP address is hidden or constantly changing
- login attempts are occurring from different geographic locations in a short period of time
If your account is affected, be sure to secure your account and update your recovery information; you can learn how here.
5) Sign in screen loops or reloads
If you’re caught in a loop where the sign-in screen keeps reappearing after you click Sign in, you’ll need to reset the sign-in cookie.
- from the sign-in page, click “Not you?”
- enter your Yahoo ID and password
- then click “Sign in”
If the problem persists, try these steps and attempt to sign in after each one:
- clear your browser’s cookies (learn how here)
- quit and then restart your browser
- use a different supported web browser (learn how here)
- try logging into a different sign-in page, like Yahoo!’s primary login page or the Yahoo! Mail sign-in page