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Open the service’s official sign-in page or app, choose Forgot password? (or Can’t sign in?), verify your identity with an available recovery method, and create a new unique password. If you are already signed in, change the password from Security settings instead. Exact labels and fallback options vary by provider.
Resetting a password is different from changing one
Reset a forgotten password
A reset starts at the sign-in screen when you do not know the current password or cannot sign in. The provider may ask for an email address, username, phone number, verification code, authenticator approval, backup code, passkey, security key, or other identity evidence.
Change a password while signed in
If you still have access, open Account, Profile, Security, or Sign-In & Security and choose Change password. This is usually easier than account recovery. A password change may require you to sign in again on some devices, but whether it ends existing sessions depends on the service.
Check which account you are actually using
If you selected Continue with Google, Sign in with Apple, Sign in with Microsoft, or another single-sign-on option, the identity provider controls the password. Reset that provider’s account rather than looking for a separate password inside the individual app. A device login passcode (such as a Windows PIN or iPhone passcode) is also separate from an online account password.
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The standard password-reset process
- Use a device and browser that you normally use with the account, if possible.
- Open the provider’s official website by typing its address, using a saved bookmark, or opening its official app. Avoid search-result advertisements and unsolicited support links.
- Choose Forgot password?, Reset password, Can’t sign in?, or the equivalent.
- Enter the account email address, username, or phone number. Check carefully if you have several similar accounts.
- Complete any CAPTCHA or additional identity check.
- Choose an offered recovery method, such as recovery email, SMS or voice call, authenticator app, trusted device, security key, passkey, backup code, or recovery contact.
- Retrieve the official code or open the official link. Never give a verification code to another person, even someone claiming to be support.
- Create and confirm a new password that you have not used on another important account.
- Sign in with the new password, then review security settings, active sessions, recovery details, connected apps, and multifactor authentication.
For example, Microsoft’s consumer flow identifies the account, offers an available verification method, sends a code, and then asks you to create the new password (Microsoft Support).
If the reset email or code does not arrive
- Wait briefly and request only one new code at a time. Repeated requests can trigger temporary limits or lockouts.
- Check spam, junk, promotions, and filtered folders. Search for the provider’s name, not just the sender address.
- Confirm that the recovery email or phone number shown on screen is yours and is not an old address or number.
- Make sure your phone can receive SMS and is not blocking short-code messages.
- Use the newest message. Older links may have expired or been invalidated when a later code was requested.
- Try the provider’s official sign-in helper or account-recovery page rather than third-party services.
Microsoft says ordinary reset notifications commonly arrive within seconds, but verification limits vary by method and repeated failed attempts can cause a temporary lockout (Microsoft Entra password-reset FAQ).
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If you no longer have the recovery email, phone, or authenticator
- Select Try another way, I don’t have access to these, or the closest option.
- Check a trusted phone, tablet, browser, or computer where the account is still signed in.
- Use a registered backup code, security key, passkey, or replacement authenticator device if one exists.
- Answer historical or identity questions accurately. Guessing or inventing details can reduce the chance of recovery.
- For a work or school account, contact the organization’s administrator or help desk.
Recovery is not guaranteed when all approved methods are unavailable. Apple may move the process to web recovery and impose a waiting period; a trusted device or the Apple Support app on a borrowed Apple device can provide another route (Apple Support). Microsoft work or school accounts may show Contact your administrator when self-service reset is disabled (Microsoft work/school reset). Do not pay a third-party “recovery” service or provide it with your password, codes, remote access, or identity documents.
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Provider-specific recovery routes
Google Account or Gmail
Start Google’s account-recovery process and answer its identity questions as accurately as possible. It can also help when you forgot a username or cannot use a verification code. Managed work, school, group, and some child accounts may require an administrator or guardian (Google Account recovery).
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Microsoft personal account
Choose Forgot password? or Reset password, enter the username, select an available recovery email or phone, enter the code, and set a new password. If none of the displayed methods works, use Microsoft’s sign-in helper. Microsoft support agents do not send reset links or directly change account details (Microsoft Support).
Microsoft work or school account
Use the organization’s security-information sign-in route and select Can’t access your account? If self-service reset has not been enabled, only the administrator or help desk can complete the reset (Microsoft work/school reset).
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Apple Account
On a trusted iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, go to Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Change Password. On a Mac, use Apple menu → System Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Change Password. The device passcode or Mac login password may be required. Without a trusted device, use Apple’s web recovery route or the Apple Support app. Apple says a security delay of up to one hour can apply to some critical security changes, and account recovery itself may involve a waiting period. Apple’s current branding is Apple Account, although older help still says Apple ID (Apple Support).
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X
Use X’s official login-help process. If a mobile number is attached to the account, X may send an SMS reset code. If the email does not arrive, use X’s support-ticket route (X Help).
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Treat a suspected takeover as a security incident, not just a forgotten password.
- Use a clean, updated device and run security or malware checks if compromise is possible.
- Secure the associated email account first if it may also be compromised; control of that inbox can defeat recovery for other services.
- Use only the provider’s official recovery process and set a unique replacement password.
- Sign out unfamiliar sessions and remove unknown devices.
- Check recovery email addresses, phone numbers, forwarding rules, connected apps, passkeys, and authenticator settings for changes.
- Enable multifactor authentication, preferably an authenticator app or phishing-resistant security key or passkey where supported.
- Review messages, orders, and payment activity. Report unauthorized transactions to the relevant service or financial institution, and warn contacts if fraudulent messages were sent.
The FTC provides provider-specific recovery links and recommends updating device security and enabling two-factor authentication (FTC Consumer Advice). Apple also recommends correcting unrecognized security information, removing unfamiliar devices, and checking with your email provider and cellular carrier for unauthorized changes such as SMS forwarding (Apple compromised-account guidance).
Choose and store the replacement password safely
- Use a long, unique password or passphrase; do not reuse it for email, banking, shopping, or social accounts.
- Avoid names, birthdays, addresses, predictable substitutions, and phrases connected to you.
- Use the provider’s password generator when available, and follow that provider’s rules for accepted characters and length.
- Store it in a reputable password manager rather than an unprotected note or document.
- Turn on multifactor authentication after recovery and save backup codes in a secure offline or separately protected location.
MFA adds protection even when a password is exposed. CISA recommends enabling it for email, financial, social-media, shopping, gaming, and streaming accounts and identifies authenticator-based and phishing-resistant methods as alternatives to SMS (CISA: More Than a Password).
A quick decision tree for failed recovery
- Still signed in? Change the password in Security or Sign-In & Security settings.
- Forgot it but have a recovery method? Use the official Forgot password flow.
- No recovery method? Try a trusted device, backup code, alternate method, or the provider’s formal account-recovery process.
- Work or school account? Contact the administrator or help desk if self-service reset is unavailable.
- Possible takeover? Secure the email account, recover through the official route, remove unknown access, and enable MFA.
- Suspended or deleted account? Use the provider’s appeal or support process; a password reset alone will not restore that status.
How to avoid password-reset scams
- Type the provider’s domain yourself or use a bookmark; do not trust a sponsored search result or an unsolicited message.
- Inspect the domain before entering credentials. A familiar logo does not prove a page is genuine.
- Never disclose a reset code, backup code, password, or passkey approval to another person.
- Do not install remote-access software for someone claiming to be support.
- Do not pay an unofficial service that promises to bypass recovery checks.
- If an unexpected reset email arrives, open the account directly through its official app or website instead of clicking the message link.
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