Recover your account when you’re locked out

If the standard password reset doesn’t work because you’ve lost access to your email, username, or phone number, this guide shows you what to try next. Use the section that matches your situation.

If you can’t remember which email address or username you used to sign up for WordPress.com, try these approaches to find it:

• Check your browser’s saved passwords for entries on wordpress.com.
• Search your email accounts for messages from wordpress.com or noreply@wordpress.com. Confirmation emails, login link emails, and purchase receipts all reference your account email address.
• Look through any past WordPress.com receipts or notification emails you may have saved or archived.
• Try the email addresses you commonly use for online services with the password reset form.

If none of those approaches turn up your account, submit the Account Recovery form. You don’t need to be logged in to use the form. Provide whatever identifying information you have, such as the URL of a site you remember owning, a transaction ID from a past purchase, or an activation URL from your original signup email.

If you’ve lost access to the email address you used to sign up for WordPress.com, try these alternatives to regain access to your account:

1. Use a recovery SMS number. If you set up a recovery SMS number, you can request a password reset by phone instead of by email. Visit the password reset page and check your phone for a code from WordPress.com.
2. Use a social login. If you connected your WordPress.com account to a Google, Apple, or GitHub account, you can log in with that account without needing your email address at all.
3. Submit the Account Recovery form. If neither of the above works, the Account Recovery form lets you prove ownership using a transaction ID, an activation URL, or a two-step authentication code. You don’t need to be logged in to use the form.

WordPress.com does not have access to your email provider and cannot restore access to your email account itself. If your old email no longer works because the provider closed it, contact your email provider to recover access to that address. Once you can read mail at that address again, the standard password reset will work.

If you set up two-step authentication and changed your phone number, you can no longer receive verification codes by SMS. To log back in to your WordPress.com account, use a backup code.

To log in with a backup code, follow these steps:

1. Visit WordPress.com and click the “Log in” button in the upper-right corner.
2. Enter your email address or username, then click the “Continue” button.
3. Enter your password.
4. When prompted for a verification code, enter one of the backup codes you saved when you set up two-step authentication.
5. Click the “Continue” button to complete login.

After you log back in, update your two-step authentication settings so your new phone number is associated with your account. Generate a new set of backup codes at the same time and store them somewhere safe.

If you don’t have your backup codes, the Account Recovery form is the only way back into your account. You’ll need to provide proof of ownership such as a transaction ID from a past purchase or an activation URL from your original signup email. WordPress.com cannot bypass two-step authentication without one of these forms of verification.

For SMS delivery problems where your phone number hasn’t changed but codes aren’t arriving, see the troubleshooting steps in If you don’t receive an SMS code.