Help talk:Logging in

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Video Help talk:Logging in

No provision for forgotten user ID

The Wikipedia user interface makes provision for lost passwords, but not for lost user IDs. Because it ties the user ID to the email address, this can result in permanently locked-out email addresses.

It appears I created a Wikipedia user ID, with email address, probably over a year ago. I didn't record it. Now I cannot retrieve it, because although I can have a fresh password sent to me via the email address, that required me to already know the user ID. And I cannot create a new user ID with my email address, because my address is already tied to my old user ID, and I get an error message when I try.

If there is, in fact, a way to retrieve lost user IDs, or to delete user IDs based on email addresses, it does not appear to be documented on the Help section.

This would seem to be a fairly significant deficiency in the login functionality, and one most other on-line login interfaces handle much better.

/kenw kenw@kmsi.net 68.147.128.184 15:54, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

This page says you can use a forgotten ID link on the login page - annoyingly thatis not there anymore :-(

ATB Steve -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.234.41.137 (talk) 21:04, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Oops, yes, thank you for pointing that out. The link is now called "Reset your password". I have updated the help page. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:10, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Maps Help talk:Logging in

Why are accounts not universal?

It seems accounts are not universal across different language versions of Wikipedia. Why is this? --Preceding unsigned comment added by Vtolfreak (talk o contribs) 20:41, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Still not the case... and this question is still interesting. I guess that there are too many overlap between usernames of various countries but it would still be good to have the ability to officially link users as the same person. It is always possible to change the users page but once one has 3 or 4 accounts (two languages both on wikipedia and wiktionary makes 4 accounts) it becomes quickly unmanageable. --Iv (talk) 09:52, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

They are now. If you create a unified login, then you will be logged in across the various language Wikipedias. You can start at Wikipedia:Unified login (shortcut -> WP:SUL). -- SpikeToronto 23:04, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

src: 2.bp.blogspot.com

OpenID

It would be great to be able to use openID to log in on the wikipedia. It would solve some issues of multiple accounts across different language versions of the wikipedia and would allow to log once and for all in all the versions.--Iv (talk) 09:52, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

I agree that this would help. Devourer09 (t·c) 23:06, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

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Browser won't keep me logged in to Wikipedia

I've allowed cookies (I'm using Firefox), but for some reason I still can't stay logged in to Wikipedia for more than half an hour or so. I don't have this problem with Gmail or Facebook.

What could be the reason for this?

Palefire (talk) 13:01, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Have you ticked the 'remember me' box? Tra (Talk) 15:10, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Hmm... I'm sure I tried that in the past, and it didn't work, but I did that today and it kept me logged in. So thanks. Palefire (talk) 15:22, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

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Browser won't let me log out of Wikipedia

That little hand hovering over the logout button just greys out, and won't let me log out. This should be covered too. What to do? JohnClarknew (talk) 06:50, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

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Editing while logged out

Per Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)/Archive49#Tips to avoid editing logged out, we should add a section on editing while logged out and the issues involved. ----- Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 13:16, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

 Done  See: Help:Logging in#Editing while logged out (shortcuts -> WP:LOGGEDOUT & WP:LOUT). -- SpikeToronto 23:10, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

src: www.moneypeach.com

Lost password

There is no way for me to retrieve my password. There is no link on the login page for this! 71.81.210.74 (talk) 13:56, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Type in your username and then click the "E-mail new password" button. -- RockMFR 23:50, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Hello: For some reason, I lost access to my first account, "Mlenoirh" and don't have any way of logging into it! I have tried every password that I could remember but still am not able to sign in. I don't recall ever changing my password and the last time I was able to edit with it was in September 2010. Is there any way for a Wikipedia Staff member to help me regain my old account? I can verify anything needed, but never really put up a User page since all I ever did was either write an article here and there, or edit mistakes and things I'd find from time to time. Please let me know! Sorry if this is not the proper place to post this, but I have searched online for a while and finally created a new username, but would like to have my old one back! Thanks! 570ad (talk) 00:23, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Help, anyone? Please see previous note. Thank you. 570ad (talk) 06:46, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, the only advice is here. You will have to carry on with the new account. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:37, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

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Secure login only option offered?

I've been a Wikipedia user for two years and until now have always been given two options when logging in: a regular login and a secure login. Yesterday the system logged me out during an editing session and when I went to log back in, the only option it gave me was "Secure Login." I don't like the secure login; I'm not an administrator and I don't share a house with anyone, so there's no particular need for security, and working in a secure environment seems to take about three times as long for anything to load on my slow dialup as the nonsecure login. How can I get the regular login back? I've tried logging out and back in several times, and that doesn't seem to help. Thanks, Woonpton (talk) 23:20, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

src: upload.wikimedia.org

a mistake

in How to log in | Login issues and problems | Other causes , I think the word "incorrect", should be "correct".--Marmzok (talk) 12:22, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Fixed, thanks ! Lee?V (talk o contribs) 17:37, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Logged out help

I see this content that I added has been removed from the "Editing while logged out" section:

• Wikipedia has no built in safeguards to warn editors that they are logged out. As a visual reminder, you can make the Save page button green when logged in, by adding this rule to your CSS:

If you use FireFox, you can disable the Save page button while logged out by installing Greasemonkey and the MediaWiki: Prevent anon editing script. This must be applied to each computer you use and will not be available on public computers.

If it is not useful, then so be it. ----- Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:10, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

Logged out as Logged in

This is an esoteric and somewhat minimal question, but, then again, this is a Wikipedia policy talk page. Here's the question:

Can an editor, who has more concern for attribution than for anonymity, sign his i.p. posts when he first makes them with his logged-in username?

For example: Blah, blah, blah. User:Ocaasi 69.142.154.10 (talk) 23:14, 13 October 2010 (UTC) or Ocaasi(talk) 23:14, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

note, I'm editing now as an i.p. and linking to my account by typing it in manually

Particular consideration if the editor discloses on his logged-in user or talk page that he occasionally edits as the i.p. I'm asking if this practice is ok a) always (with disclosure); b) sometimes (but not to be encouraged); or c) never. This likely overlaps with Socking policy about WP:ILLEGIT uses of alternate accounts.

Ocaasi 69.142.154.10 (talk) 23:14, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

If you have a registered account, which you do, then it is always best to edit from it. When you do not, you should follow Help:Logging in#Editing while logged out (shortcuts -> WP:LOGGEDOUT & WP:LOUT).

Periodically, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may re-assign its IP addresses (see Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (shortcut -> DHCP)). If it does -- mine does every year or two -- then that IP will no longer be yours, and could end up belonging to someone else, perhaps another Wikipedian, perhaps not.

Finally, if you want to have your edits attributed to your registered account, then why are you editing without logging in anyway? Thanks! -- SpikeToronto 23:23, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Can some one unblock Sri Lanka Eastern University's IP address 10.19.48.38

{{adminhelp}} Can some one unblock Sri Lanka Eastern University's IP addressas i.e. 10.19.48.38 we are doing a workshop so it's quite likely people need to create the account. Thanks in advance.--?????? (talk) 05:24, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

As far as I can determine, there is no block on 10.19.48.38[1][2]. Remember that it might be blocked on another language-wiki though, although you will have to ask there for an unblock. Regards SoWhy 10:43, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

"Log Me in Globally"

The new feature "log me in globally" is not discussed here. It would be nice to update the page with information about what that service is -- and link to the explanation from the login page. I can't find anything about it. Kenirwin/(talk) 13:25, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

I forgot to uncheck the tick mark on, "log me in globally" and I'm not able to log out now. What to do? --Preceding unsigned comment added by VonBismarck (talk o contribs) 15:52, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

The "What if I forget the password" instructions are wrong!

Since the forgot password instructions are incorrect, this section should be deleted. I followed the instructions User_talk:Prapsnot#Requested_move, and was told not to use Request Move. I replied that I was following instructions, and asked if the guy was joking. I was told to calm down, and find an admin to do this move instead of using Request Move. User_talk:Ohconfucius#Redirected_instead_of_Moved. No one should be following instructions listed on this page. Since these instructions are wrong, please remove them. Prapsnot 2.0 (talk) 05:02, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

The instruction has been there for a couple of years now. If no one else comments here, I'll post at one of the noticeboards so that we can clear up the discrepancy. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:18, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

It certainly seems a bit odd to me (suggesting going via RM, that is). I would have thought the best solution would depend on how much history etc. there was on the pages in the individual case, and ought to be discussed 1-1 with an admin (who would presumably want to be satisfied that the new account owner genuinely is the same person as the old one). Though if you simply replaced the old user pages with redirects to the new ones, you wouldn't need an admin, and probably no-one would object unless the manoeuvre looked suspicious for some reason.--Kotniski (talk) 07:49, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I revised the instructions somewhat - make sense?--Kotniski (talk) 08:12, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:38, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Computer identity

If I do not log in, are the details of my computer or laptop made available as well as my ip address? If there are multiple computers all sharing ny ip address is it possible to determine that some edits have been made using one computer and some using another? Can an administrator tell who has done what from a shared ip address? 109.153.218.1 (talk) 20:33, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Nobody can see anything else than what the IP address was at the time of the edit. Some people have certain editing patterns which may enable others to guess which edits they made but it will only be guesses. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:33, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Really? So when an administrator blocks an editor indefinitey for "sockpuppetry" what do they mean when they write ".. these accounts have been editing not only from the same IP address, but the same computer .." Thanks. 109.148.206.131 (talk) 07:39, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Where have you seen that? I'm an administrator and don't have access to such information. I don't know exactly what a Wikipedia:CheckUser can see but I thought it was only the IP address of a logged in user. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:03, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

As far as I can tell from mw:Extension:CheckUser, they are limited to seeing IP adresses. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:07, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

Upon closer examination, mw:Extension:CheckUser#Information returned says: "The last ten user agents (browser, operating system, system language, and versions) for each user for edits made in the IP or range are listed afterwards." See also user agent. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:40, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Many thanks for that information. So it seems that it is possible for a checkuser to see what type of device has made a series of edits. But this hardly means that a single computer can be identified if a number of different users are using identical devices on the same ip address, which is probably quite ocmmon in many households. 109.153.210.148 (talk) 15:57, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

When I am logged out on google chrome

Whenever Wikipedia logs me out on google chrome it crashes the browser. Wondering if this can be fixed either by 1) not logging me out 2) fixing whatever it is that is crashing Chrome. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 17:01, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't have Chrome, so I can't help you with your problem, but you're more likely to find help by asking at the Help desk. The talk page you are on isn't watched by many people, and should be used for suggesting and discussing changes to the help page about logging in. If you haven't posted there already, you might also want to ask about the problem in Chrome's own forums, to see if anyone else has experienced the problem or found a solution for it. - PartTimeGnome (talk | contribs) 20:19, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. --Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 04:41, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Can't log in

Why can't I sign in to Wikipedia? Everytime I click "Sign in" it says "User doesn't exist". I can still log on to other Wikis but not Wikipedia. Can anyone help me out here? --213.122.141.118 (talk) 22:51, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

What is your username and can you copy-paste the exact error message including the name if it's present? A copy-paste may reveal if the username is altered by your browser. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:28, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

The message contains my user name: "There is no user by the name "ConCass". User names are case sensitive. Please check your spelling, or use the link below to create a new user account.". I can log in to other Wikis, but not Wikipedia. Why not? --86.154.235.121 (talk) 19:43, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

http://toolserver.org/~quentinv57/sulinfo/ConCass shows that the username ConCass is not registered at Wikipedia or any other wiki run by the Wikimedia Foundation. Compare to http://toolserver.org/~quentinv57/sulinfo/PrimeHunter. Please give a link to your user page at a wiki where you can log in. A wiki is a type of website and there are thousands of wikis with no connection to the Wikimedia Foundation or our unified login system. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:36, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

http://community.wikia.com/wiki/User:ConCass I can log in on that and other Wikis, but Wikipedia is the only one I can't log in to. --86.157.69.11 (talk) 13:28, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Wikia is not a Wikimedia Foundation project. If you wish to log on as "ConCass" here, you will have to register an account with that name. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:09, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Two other ways to recover an account

I've expanded the section Help:Logging in#What if I forget the password?. The new paragraphs describe very unusual cases, but I think it's worthwhile including all the possibilities we can think of.

• For recovery of an AWB password see Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Archive 24#log in info. At least one other tool saves a password locally.
• For committed identities I've suggested posting an WP:AN. It's odd that Template:User committed identity/doc doesn't explain what to do with the secret string when it's needed. This Help desk archive suggests that the recovery would need help from a dev. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:51, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Password loss, "too close", and the five day wait

Same history, created a username in 2010 with my real name, but been using my Wikifur admin name normally (Spirou). Now, there is two articles where I'm directly involved (as in "part of it"), Honey Bunny and Lola Bunny. As having work on those projects, I needed to use my real name. I tried all the passwords I thought were connected to it (no dice), so I try the recovery tool (but it only allows you one try every 24 hours, so it will be five days before I can get throught [5 possible emails: one personal, 2 home work, 2 Warner Bros]).

So, since the name was case sensitive (Xxxxxxxxxx), I decided to upper case my second name (XxxXxxxxxx) and merge, but I'm getting the error message that the new name is "too close". Not that is the same, but "Too Close". Can't find the password, it will be until Thursday until I can finally finisg checking the possible emails, and I cannot created an account with my Case Sensitive real name because is "too close" to my old real name account.

Any help on the matter will be appreciated - Spirou (talk) 13:48, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

WP:IMPERSONATOR discusses this and how you can request an account. ----- Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:34, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

The password email is sent right away, and it is sent to the stored address each time. You don't have to wait 5 days, you just have to check the inbox for all your email addresses. I don't know why the form at Special:PasswordReset currently has an E-mail address field. It didn't use to. Maybe data is collected to examine abuse. As a test I wrote a wrong email address (one owned by me) in the field. A password was still sent to the stored address, and nothing to the stated address. It didn't say whether I had written the right or wrong address. You can also leave the field empty. I tested that on my alternative account. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:50, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

The email field is for editors who have forgotten their user name. With the user name blanked and my Wikipedia email address filled in, the system found the matching user name and sent a password reminder email to me. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:44, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Login on multiple PCs - recently changed

I log in at home and in work, both for editing and for reading because I like some of the gadgets (e.g. popups). Recently I've found that if I log in on 1 PC, I get logged out on the other. Has something changed, because I used to be able to stay logged in on both? Is there anything I can do about it, short of creating a second account (which in practice would be used for editing, so "recommended" against under WP:MULTIPLE. ChrisHodgesUK (talk) 16:57, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

Password reminder requested repeatedly from same IP - notify requester?

For a few days now, I receive password reminder mails. I have not requested a password reset/reminder. In all cases the password reminder request came from the same IP address, so obviously someone believes (incorrectly remembers) my account name to be his. Could we add an option to the password reminder mail like "If you did NOT request this reminder you can notify <IPofPasswordReminderRequester> on his next attempt that he probably got the user name wrong by clicking <SomeLink>"? Possibly, one could even block password reminders to be triggered from that IP while showing the user a message. -- Preceding unsigned comment added by TvF (talk o contribs) 08:26, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

can't log in

I am a long-time Wikipedian but have not been able to log in in a long time. Several times I've clicked the link to have a password reset link sent to my email, but nothing ever arrives. And when I go back to Wikipedia and try again, it confirms that it's already sent the link and won't resend for 24 hours. Any suggestions? [User:PurpleChez} -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.15.252.118 (talk) 02:37, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

Log in help

The page says:

Login issues and problems: If you find yourself unable to log in, you may have one of the problems addressed in the following paragraphs. If none of them seem to apply, ask for help at the help desk.

However, clicking the link takes you to a help desk that offers no help. Where does a person having problems go to ask for help, and can that information be provided on this page? Modal Jig (talk) 15:07, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure I've understood you, since the volunteers at the Wikipedia:Help desk are usually quick to offer help to anyone who asks a question there, provided the question is about using or editing Wikipedia. Are there examples in the help desk archives where "log in help" questions have been ignored? -- John of Reading (talk) 16:42, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps it's me: I didn't think that logging in would be covered by "using and editing". Modal Jig (talk) 15:35, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Logging in is certainly covered by using. The condition is there to reduce all the people who ask questions unrelated to Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:34, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Logging in while editing - lose submission data

I just did the following:

• Started editing a page while not logged in
• Realized I wasn't logged in, logged in via new tab
• In original edit tab, hit Show Preview.

The result was a logged in version of the initial edit page with my content lost, and no preview. -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.171.190.11 (talk) 01:07, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

I frequently log in and out during edits when I'm helping IP users and want to see the same interface as them. This never results in losing my data. I also tested it now and it worked fine. What is your browser? PrimeHunter (talk) 01:30, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 January 2014

password not remember 106.78.170.243 (talk) 14:26, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

 Done If you set an e-mail address, under "Preferences" and if you still have that e-mail account, you can be e-mailed a new password. To do this, try to log on, entering your account name and select the e-mail password button.
If you did not set an e-mail address, or have changed your address, there is nothing we can do. As it says in "Preferences", "You do not have to provide an email address, but if you forget your password, you will not be able to regain access to your account without one" - Arjayay (talk) 15:08, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Help!

So in an old account, if I did not submit an email, I can't recover the account at all??? If that is the case, since my old account only had one post, can I just have it fused into this one? The account is RotationTractorBeam.BustaBunny (talk) 23:12, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Right, you can't recover the account at all. Accounts cannot be merged and edits cannot be reassigned. You can write on User:BustaBunny that you were User:RotationTractorBeam before. However, the only edit [3] by RotationTractorBeam was fairly insignificant so I suggest you just forget it and start over with your new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:38, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

So it's just going to sit there then. Crap. Thanks for the info. BustaBunny (talk) 02:29, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

The English Wikipedia has 21 million accounts. One more sitting around doesn't matter to us. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:43, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

One with a cool name I can never use! J/k I am sure you guys have enough bandwidth for some abandoned accounts. Most of the site is text. BustaBunny (talk) 02:51, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

If it's only about the name then there is Wikipedia:Changing username/Usurpations, but the account is new and has a recent edit to an article so it's uncertain whether usurpation would be allowed. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:04, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Interesting. But I do remember something about not deleting accounts when created so to know who contributed what, and since that looks like it would have to delete the account to change my name, I may not be allowed to do so. I'll check it out just in case. Thanks. BustaBunny (talk) 03:38, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Password reset email not being sent?

My email is not being sent to the email associated with my account, I have access to all of my emails, I type in my username and click "reset password" and it tells me it has been sent. but I check each and every email, and I do not receive it. My username is Aelvir if it helps. 76.99.205.246 (talk) 18:34, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

The email may be blocked somewhere. Does Help:Email confirmation#Known issues help? User:Aelvir was created 13 January 2009 and has no edits. Are you sure it's you? With no edits you could just create a new account. We don't mind and it's optional to give an email adress. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:57, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

I cannot log in using Chrome

I can log into Wikipedia using IE but for some reason I cannot long in using Chrome. I also can't edit with my IP address, if I click the edit button it says that this page has not been created. Does anyone have any idea's what may be wrong. ***Adam*** (talk) 14:44, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

@Adam.J.W.C.: Chrome works for me. What happens when you try to log in? What is the url where you click edit, which edit link on the page do you click, and what is the url when you get the message? PrimeHunter (talk) 15:03, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for getting back. This is the link that I use to sign in with [4]. I also clicked on the forgot my password link and had a new password sent, this didn't work either but when I logged in using IE the new password worked and I was prompted to change the password again, this worked fine as well. If I try to edit the Bankstown Bunker article clicking on the edit link at the top it says you do not have permission to create this page. This is the link that I use [5]. This is the main edit link at the top of the page but I get the same problem when trying to edit sections. I didn't get the error message for this article [6] though. Could this have something to do with my settings. I do have cookies enabled. ***Adam*** (talk) 00:56, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

@Adam.J.W.C.: That's odd. Something is changing upper case to lower case in a part of your url's. Your first link https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&action=submitlogin&type=login&returnto=main+page should have said https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&action=submitlogin&type=login&returnto=Main+Page, assuming you clicked Log in at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. However, I don't think this error should prevent the login, but if Chrome changes your username or password to lower case then that would prevent login. Do you see username and password fields at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin? What exactly happens when you fill them out and click the Log in button? Your second url https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=bankstown_bunker&action=edit should have said https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bankstown_Bunker&action=edit, assuming you clicked edit at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankstown_Bunker. The url with title=bankstown_bunker is to a non-existing page bankstown bunker so if you are not logged then you are told you cannot create the page (only logged in users can create pages in non-talk namespaces). Does the url with title=Bankstown_Bunker work for you? Your third url https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=philae_(spacecraft)&action=edit should have said https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philae_(spacecraft)&action=edit. However, your lower case philae works because MediaWiki automatically capitalizes the first letter in a page name, so philae (spacecraft) and Philae (spacecraft) is the same page. Do you have any extensions or odd settings in Chrome which might mess with capitalization? Do the edit links on Bankstown Bunker and Philae (spacecraft) have upper or lower case when you hover over them before clicking, or right click and copy the address? PrimeHunter (talk) 01:47, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter:. I managed to log in, I found that when I signed into Wikimedia Commons I could then log into Wikipedia but now I cannot save edits, it just keeps going to the preview screen. ***Adam*** (talk) 13:35, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

How did you save this edit? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:06, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

how to access to an old account if I lost the password and also the email address

Hi... I'm an italian wikipedia user since 2005 .... I create in 2005 my italian account with the name Pdn (26,810 edit count)... now I would like to create an unified account.... but I have found a problem...: I created also in 2005 an account in en.wikipedia... I used it only for a few time 9 years ago (1,098 edit count) to edit translated pages of italian pages that I created... the problem is that now I don't remember the password and the email address that I used to create the account... so I can't unify the en.wikipedia account... what can I do now? Is it possible to know what email address I use for it? thanks in advance bye --93.71.69.16 (talk) 07:45, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

User:Pdn made an edit yesterday [7] saying they got password emails. This does not match your claims. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:23, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

Caps Lock Warning

Some computers have a very tiny warning light if 'Caps Lock' is on, and it takes quite a few exasperated seconds before one finds his bearings. It would help users if the 'pink box' which says 'There was an unexpected error allowing you to login...maybe due to your cookie settings' also includes 'maybe because your 'Caps Lock' key is on'. - SourceOhWatch (?????? ????) 02:24, 14 December 2014 (UTC) -- Preceding unsigned comment added by SourceOhWatch (SrotahaUvacha) (talk o contribs)

Difficulties logging in

My browser will not allow me to log in to Wikipedia. When I click "log in" or "create account," I receive a message stating that the page cannot be displayed. -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.116.37.44 (talk) 19:00, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Can't login from Chrome

I generally browse using Google Chrome. Suddenly, a few weeks ago, the login to Wikipedia stopped working from one of my machines (laptop - Windows 7). When I enter the login and password, and hit the "login" button, the screen just flickers for a fraction of a second, reloading the login screen again. No error message of any kind appears.

I tried updating Chrome to the latest revision and clearing browser cache. But the problem persists. What else can I do? Kautilya3 (talk) 19:55, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

The problem went away after a few weeks on its own. But I have the same problem on Safari on iPad. Kautilya3 (talk) 09:15, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

forgot password and lost email

Hi, i forgot my password. I just came back to edit because a friend call for my help in a big project. my old user is mvdiogo, my new is mvdiogoce. I do not know my old password and openoffice project toke my old email. what can i do? I have more them 1k modification on my old user. my edit are in pt [8] new [9] if i need create a new user i have no problem but i would like to keep my history. Mvdiogoce (talk) 17:27, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

the big problem is that if i put password wrong 3 times if i put true password 4 time it don´t said that is the true. i think that i change the password because of that for one easy but can not remember. :(Mvdiogoce (talk) 17:44, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

You can try more than three passwords in a row but have to fill out a CAPTCHA after three. After a few more tries you may get "You have made too many recent login attempts. Please wait 5 minutes before trying again." Accounts are never closed due to too many login attempts. If you don't remember the password or get access to the stored email address then you have to create a new account. The edits cannot be transferred to the new account. I don't know the Portuguese policies but I guess you can place a note on the userpages that it is the same user, or redirect the old userpage to the new. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:00, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Can't gain access to my account

I have been a member of Wikipedia since December 2005 under the user name User:Intelligent Mr Toad. From 2003 to 2005 I edited under my real name User:Adam Carr: that account still exists although I don't use it anymore. Both accounts had the same password. The day before yesterday, for no apparent reason, the password ceased to work for both accounts. For want of a better alternative, I went to the "forgot password" service (even though I had not in fact forgotten my password), and was sent a new password by email. But because I have only one email address, and because User:Adam Carr was my original account, the password I was sent worked for that account and not for User:Intelligent Mr Toad. I now cannot obtain a new password for User:Intelligent Mr Toad. Can someone advise me on what I should now do? Ideally I would like my old password to be reactivated, but if that is not possible I would like a new one. Adam (talk) 07:28, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

@Adam Carr: User links should have "User:" in front. It's possible to register the same email for two accounts but User:Intelligent Mr Toad has not specified an email address so you cannot get a new password for the account. I haven't heard of problems with the login system. The old password should still work unless the account has been hacked and the hacker has changed it. Try variations if there is any part of the password you are unsure about. Have you tried to log in with another computer or browser? What happens when you try to log in? PrimeHunter (talk) 09:40, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Well it doesn't. I've tried it on three different browsers, though not on a different computer. I suppose I could have been hacked, although there's no sign of that. If the password has been changed, surely there will be a record of that. Are you a person who can access those records and see? I assume I will now have to open a new account under a different name. Do I have any other course of action? Adam (talk) 13:14, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

I don't have access to password data and don't know whether changes are logged. The password itself is not stored and cannot be recovered (if that sounds strange then see Cryptographic hash function#Password verification). I think developers with direct database access can set an email address to enable a new password being sent but there is no procedure to request that and it would probably have to be a special case like an account with high user permissions. Do you get "Login error Incorrect password entered" when you try to log in? I still haven't heard other reports of problems. It sounds odd that it should happen to both your accounts. If you don't find a working password then you have to create a new account, or continue with User:Adam Carr (optionally after changing username). You can write on the user pages that it's the same person. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:45, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Logging out.

On the mobile version of Wikipedia, the only way to log out appears to be by accessing the desktop site (same thing with preferences, though that is not relevant here). I find this very frustrating and I'm sure many other users do too, could someone in the know possibly rectify this?

Thanks,

Gotha^?  _Talk 15:01, 14 July 2015 (UTC) Gotha^?  _Talk 15:01, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

In the mobile version, click the menu icon at the top left and then the logout button to the right of your username. I have added it to the page.[10] PrimeHunter (talk) 15:39, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks very much! Now why didn't I spot that?

Gotha^?  _Talk 19:11, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

Can't log-in

The system is not letting me log-in and I know I am using the correct password. It says it has no memory of my account and no email address is affiliated with it. Like my account has been erased. My account is HesioneHushabye (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/HesioneHushabye). Not sure what to do. I can't start all over with a new account and lose all of my history. 12.71.108.151 (talk) 17:37, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Please quote the exact message you get when you try to log in at Special:UserLogin. It should say something like "Incorrect password entered. Please try again." Are you saying the message indicates your account does not exist? PrimeHunter (talk) 19:13, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Special:Contributions/HesioneHushabye shows edits since the above so I assume the problem is solved. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:17, 24 January 2016 (UTC)

I cannot log in

Hi, I have a Wikipedia account under the user-name "Theoretical Wormhole" and I know my password but when I try to log in it won't let me. The error message I get is this:

"Login error There is no user by the name "Theoretical Wormhole". Check your spelling, or go to Wikipedia's signup page to create a new user account."

I don't want to create a new account since I have done lots on this one. Is there anyway to retrieve my account?

Thanks! -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.160.100.195 (talk) 21:19, 20 February 2016 (UTC)

There is a user named Theoretical wormhole (talk · contribs) with a lowercase "w". Is that you? User names are case-sensitive except for the initial letter of the first word. -- John of Reading (talk) 21:49, 20 February 2016 (UTC)

Cant login via Firefox

Hello, I cannot login through firefox (v45.0 on Win10). When I try to, I get this error:

Central user log in

---

No active login attempt is in progress for your session.

Return to the previous page.

Right now I'm using MS Edge to type this, which is very annoying as I cannot use any of my plugins...

Any ideas? --Jeremy (blah blah o I did it!) 07:08, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Just a note, this is occurring on multiple machines running Firefox 45.0.1, I can login in using a private session but not in standard browser window. --Jeremy (blah blah o I did it!) 23:39, 24 March 2016 (UTC)

Need my Screenname.

My email address is [redacted] -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.171.16 (talk) 22:02, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Try entering the email address at Special:PasswordReset with no username. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:08, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Exception encountered, of type "Exception"

I have added [11] a possible fix for a specific login problem with the error message Exception encountered, of type "Exception". I would like to hear whether the instructions are understandable and whether the fix works. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:58, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter: I became afflicted by this error about four hours ago. The affected wiki that popped up when trying your directions was orwikisource, which upon logging in there gave me the same error. Mahir256, from 50.45.32.207 (talk) 02:00, 17 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback, sorry it didn't work. As you say, testwiki:Special:CentralAuth/Mahir256 says "Could not find local user data for Mahir256@orwikisource". I see your name has already been added to phab:T119736. Somebody with the right access sometimes goes through the usernames reported there and tries to fix them. If wikisource:or:Special:Login does not work then I know no other potential solution apart from creating a new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:40, 17 June 2016 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter: I'm experiencing the same problem when trying to login to my account Luriflax (Could not find local user data for Luriflax@abwiki). Trying to login on abwiki as described did not solve the problem. //Luriflax from 194.14.32.4 (talk) 06:26, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

@Mahir256: looks like you solved the problem with your account, is there any fix that worked for you or did it just start to work one day? //Luriflax from 194.14.32.4 (talk) 10:50, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

Mahir256 was fixed by User:Tgr (WMF). See User talk:Tgr (WMF)#Exception encountered, of type 'Exception' and the currently last post by Stashbot at phab:T119736. gerrit:295188 may soon enable affected users to log in. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:11, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

Tgr (WMF) helped me as well. Thanks a lot for your tip! //Luriflax (talk) 19:25, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

No active login attempt is in progress for your session.

I saw there was an entry on this earlier but no real answer....

I've newly registered but always get this error(?) whenever I try and login.

No active login attempt is in progress for your session.

This happens on several machines (but all Macs running Safari or Chrome)

Why am I getting this?70.91.35.27 (talk) 18:42, 27 June 2016 (UTC)Tim

Does it also happen at https://login.wikimedia.org and https://meta.wikimedia.org? Can you try to create a new account? If that works then are you OK with abandoning the other account? PrimeHunter (talk) 22:11, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Hello, user70.91.35.27, I have the same problems with my account (Dutch and English Wiki). But I can not create a new account on the same IP address. Can someone take a look on this error (?). It is very frustrating and there are more contributors with the same login problems. Maybe some computer 'hacking' is going on.84.104.223.208 (talk) 19:20, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Neat. I am getting this now. It is an older account, infrequently used. Also this is difficult to find without using an external search engine. It would be mildly helpful if a developer would even parse this message for us. It either means something or is a wildly arcane and obfuscatory method of stating "login fail, reason: unknown", or something even more obvious but unhelpful. Of course it isn't in progress, the attempt was over by the time i saw this message, in fractions of a second. 99.68.241.103 (talk) 06:18, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

An answer: It seems to be a cookie permission problem, at least in my case. Even though default permissions were already the most permissive, selecting manually the most permissive policy fixed this. (Or something changed while I was poking at potential stupid causes for login problems.)99.68.241.103 (talk) 07:53, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

No, that's not it at all. Must be magic. -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.68.241.103 (talk) 23:03, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

An 2nd answer: Requesting a password fixed it for me. Although I knew my password (and I didn't get a password error, but the message above). Going to the process of getting a temp password and changing it back to the original made fixed this error for me. Gijs van Dam (talk) 01:46, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

Logging into Wikimedia Commons worked for me, I'm back to my account now. Nhan 19:36, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

What do you do if you can't talk on your talk page?

I can't talk on my talk page. What should I do? HealthyGavin108 (talk) 18:09, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

What message do you get if you click "edit" on User talk:HealthyGavin108? There doesn't seem to be any page protection there, and you are not blocked. --Jules (Mrjulesd) 18:14, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

Log in every time - why?

Suddenly (that is, within the last week) Wikipedia does not keep me logged in (it used to be "for 30 days", but now says "for 365 days". Every single time, in spite of telling me it that will be for 365 days (fine for me), the promise is not kept, not even the old 30 days - it makes me log in every time. Has the system changed - is it something users need to have explained in the page? P0mbal (talk) 00:07, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I stay logged in. It may be a cookie issue with your browser. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:13, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

No access to email, forgot password; please help!

A few years ago, I created a Wikipedia account using my college email address. Username is juliow1. I kept my information and kept myself logged in after I finished school; I created several book articles on the website and made several edits. But since then, I had to switch laptops, so I no longer have my login info stored, can't remember the password, and the university deactivated my college email address (I graduated). Therefore, I cannot reset my password in order to log in. For further info, my address was: [redacted].

Is there a way to recover my account and switch it to my casual email address? If not, can someone kill my old account for me so I can make a new one? -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.13.136.238 (talk) 16:19, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

If you don't know the password and cannot access mail sent to it then it cannot be recovered. Accounts cannot be deleted. Just create a new account. Wikipedia:Sock puppetry#Legitimate uses says: "In such a case, you should post a note on the user page of each account indicating that they are alternative accounts for the same person." PrimeHunter (talk) 23:05, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 January 2017

I found out today that WP:COOKIES is a redirect to Help:Logging_in#How_to_log_in, talking about the cookie_(computing) type of cookie, which is not what I wanted. Please insert the following section-hatnote, immediately below the extant Help:Logging_in#How_to_log_in subsection-header:

Done JTP ^{(talk o contribs)} 20:48, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

How to log in

Or whatever wording is deemed appropriate for helppages. Thanks. 47.222.203.135 (talk) 18:35, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Can't log in (old accounts)

I am unable to log into my account User:Thankyoubaby, which I have been using for over 10 years. I've tried on different computers and different browsers. Every time I log in, the main page appears and it says I need to log in again. I've cleared my cookies and have made sure they are enabled. I don't know what else to try, please help. Thankyoubaby2 (talk) 00:31, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

My old user, popperman99 is logging out every refresh/new page. I am aware I had requested the userpage be deleted back in 2015, however I don't know if that has anything to do with it (if it does, is there any way I could get that back?). I'm on a Mac, and have tried clearing cookies and using two different browsers. The "keep me logged in" box is checked. Any ideas? Thanks (EDIT: RESETTING PASS FIXED) -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:444:4101:9350:c92:3706:a844:315d (talk o contribs) 04:09, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Same issue for me, tried on two machines User:Wernight. -- Preceding

I am having this exact issue. Login to wikimedia as suggested did not fix. User:Rtconner. unsigned comment added by 2620:0:105f:4:4948:4a4c:5586:db46 (talk o contribs) 14:56, 26 June 2017 (UTC)

It seems to be an official bug involving old accounts. There were already multiple bug reports about it, headed by this one: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T169261 -79.178.105.233 (talk) 22:32, 30 June 2017 (UTC)

This was resolved by logging in directly to login wiki. Thankyoubaby (talk) 01:19, 2 July 2017 (UTC)

User:Redgolpe here, I have the same problem, can't stay logged in. As far as I'm aware, this started occurring today. Logging with the main page did not solve the issue. It is also important to consider that without being logged in it is impossible to file a bug in Phabricator, so this problem may be highly underestimated. 213.45.89.181 (talk) 13:47, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

Edit: resetting the password solved the issue. ?edG?lpe ? 14:18, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

Can't stay logged in

Everytime I try to login it either doesn't work (says I'm logged out) or it logs out as soon as I refresh the page. Extremely frustrating, can't believe how buggy the site is. I've tried about 100 times before giving up. -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.17.47.128 (talk) 22:33, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

I am having the same problem --2601:18A:C781:55A2:2C8B:8C98:A05E:1283 (talk) 17:39, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

I had the same problem (https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T169261), what helped me was logging into a wiki which I never logged in before. After the login in the Polish wikipedia my login on the German was fixed Loddar92 (talk) 19:42, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Same here. I log in. My username displays at the top of the page as expected. I refresh the page (or click a link to edit, etc) and I'm not logged in any more. Seems like quite a big bug. Biguana 10:58, 6 July 2017 (UTC) -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.88.245.83 (talk)

The suggestion over at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Login problem is that you try logging in a Wikimedia project that you've never visited before, such as the Kashubian Wiktionary. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:35, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, this worked for me. S806 (talk) 21:14, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

I was having the same problem. Logging in at the test Special:CentralAuth page resolved it for me. Thank you so much for the suggestion! Cculb (talk) 16:33, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

Can't log in at all suddenly

I've had an account with Wikipedia for years and log in regularly. Below is the link to my user page (you'll see the relevance of it in a moment).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Aldiboronti

Today I tried to log in as usual and to my surprise was informed that there was no User Aldiboronti on Wikipedia. Had my account been wiped? No, my user page is still there as you can see above. All my past edits are still there under my user name Aldiboronti. Clearly this wasn't a case of mistyping the name. The error message telling me there is no Aldiboronti spells the name precisely as on my user page. At one Wikipedia link (and hundreds more with my edits) I exist, but in the log in error message I do not exist.

This has me beat. I can't even imagine what could cause this. Help!!!!!

User Aldiboronti (unable to log in as such) -- Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.11.25.176 (talk) 22:21, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Have you seen this? Try logging in at a Wikimedia wiki you have never visited and where your account has not been created yet. Special:SiteMatrix shows all wikis. Try a language edition in the large table. Special:CentralAuth can show where you have accounts. If it works then log out again before leaving the wiki. This may solve the issue in phab:T169261. --Jules (Mrjulesd) 22:44, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

Help Page 3.1

The "Help with login" would be useful if it identified what connections and cookies are required to successfully complete the login.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Logging_in )

Every single time I log in I get an error, sometimes it's obscure other's it just flat out refuses. Which gets me sufficiently disincented to participate that I stay away for months. I am convinced the problem is related to some kind of extra URI loading or some undisclosed cookie, because, if I don't use my secure browser, but go to a completely exposed browser, the problem goes away. I have cookies accepted for wikimedia.org and wikipedia.org. I have request-forwarding permitted bi-directionally for those two domains. I have scripting enabled for both those domains. But that seems not to be enough. I have to use a browser that accepts cookies from everywhere forever and that does no request-forwarding checking at all, and that allows javascript for everywhere all of the time. I will revert to participating anonymously if that is the way the system is organized to incentivize users because I will not spend any significant amount of time using a fully exposed browser.

Please improve the Login Help section with a clear disclosure of what permissions need be in place at the time of log in to complete the process. Do you have domains setting cookies other than those two? What else? Caleval (talk) 19:54, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

confirmation email not working

Hi, can you send me a new confirmation email to [redacted]? Thanks. AnarSchizoBoy (talk) 08:31, 5 September 2017 (UTC)

@AnarSchizoBoy: Confirmation emails can only be requested via email options at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-personal. Special:EmailUser/AnarSchizoBoy shows me you currently have a confirmed email address but I cannot see what it is. If a mail doesn't arrive then check spam folders or try another email address. See Help:Email confirmation. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:00, 5 September 2017 (UTC)

Source of the article : Wikipedia