Proton Account recovery explained

It’s extremely important to secure your Proton Account with multiple recovery methods. If you lose your password without having a recovery method set up, you risk permanently losing access to your account and data.

You can set up multiple recovery methods in your account settings. At a minimum, we recommend enabling your recovery phrase, an extra password reset method, and an extra data recovery method.

• How it works
• Recovery methods explained
• View and enable recovery methods
• Recover your account
• Account recovery for Proton organization members
• Lost two-factor authentication (2FA)
• Account recovery and two-password mode

How it works

For security reasons, we don’t keep user passwords on our systems. But this means we can’t reset your password for you if it’s lost. To avoid being locked out permanently, you’ll need to have access to a recovery method.

Recovery methods explained

A recovery method is a secure alternative way to regain control of your account. Because Proton doesn’t know your password and can’t read your data, recovery methods must be set up and kept by the account holder (you).

• How to set up a recovery method

Not all recovery methods have the same function

There are two steps to recovering a Proton Account:

1. Password reset: Lets you set a new password without knowing the old one.
2. Data recovery: Decrypts the data on your account so you can read and interact with it again.

Your recovery phrase covers both steps. But most other recovery methods only allow one or the other:

• If you have a password reset method and no data recovery method, you’ll lose access to everything that was on your account before the password reset (unless you remember your old password).
• If you have a data recovery method but no password reset method, you won’t be able to get back into your account at all.

That’s why it’s so important to have multiple recovery methods available.

At a minimum, we recommend enabling your recovery phrase and two backup methods — one for password reset, and another for data recovery.

Proton’s recovery methods

	Description	Password reset?	Data recovery?	Notes
Recovery phrase	12-word sequence that you can download, print, or write down for safekeeping	Yes	Yes	Contained in the Recovery Kit provided during account creation. In most cases, this is the most convenient way to recover your account.
Signed-in reset	Recovery feature that lets you reset a lost password from an active session	Yes	Yes*	Only works if you’re signed in to Proton. This should not be your only recovery method.
Password reset via email	Verifies your identity using your secondary email address	Yes	No	Combine with a data recovery method.
Password reset via mobile phone	Verifies your identity using your phone number	Yes	No	Combine with a data recovery method.
Device data backup	Stores an encrypted backup keychain (recovery file) in your browser’s web storage	No	Yes	Previously known as Device-based recovery and Device data recovery. Combine with a password reset method.
Recovery file	Encrypted backup keychain stored in a file that you can download and save to your device	No	Yes	Combine with a password reset method.
Contact-assisted data recovery	Lets you set trusted contacts who can verify your data recovery request	No	Yes	Combine with a password reset method.

*Technically, signed-in reset prevents your data from being locked in the first place.

View and enable recovery methods

These instructions explain how to enable or disable a recovery method in your account settings. However, you can also use our account safety review tool to turn on recommended recovery methods, and check if you’ve enabled enough recovery options to recover your account.

If you’re currently locked out of your account, skip to how to recover your account.

1. Sign in to account.proton.me and open your account settings.
2. Select Recovery from the left sidebar.

3. Scroll down to view the recovery methods available for your account.

Take note of the status labels:

• Blue label: The recovery method is enabled and ready to use.
• Orange label: You’ve enabled this recovery method, but further action is required before it can be used.
• Grey label: The recovery method is not enabled.

4. Click the recovery method you want to turn on, then follow the instructions to enable it.

Enable at least one password reset method and one data recovery method. For more detailed instructions, read our dedicated guides on how to enable each recovery method:

• Enable your recovery phrase
• Enable signed-in reset
• Enable a recovery email address or phone number
• Enable device data backup
• Enable your recovery file
• Enable contact-assisted data recovery
• Enable emergency contacts
• Enable QR code sign-in

Recover your account

If you lose your password, there are a few different ways to regain control of your account — depending on which recovery methods you have enabled. Here’s what to do:

1. Check if you’re signed in on another device

• Go to account.proton.me and account.protonvpn.com on any other devices that you use
• Check all of your Proton apps (Mail, VPN, Calendar, Drive, Pass, Wallet, and any others)

If you have an active session on another device, you can use Signed-in reset to reset your password.

Signed-in reset is not available on all Proton apps. But you can transfer your session to a supported app with our QR-code sign-in feature.

2. Use your recovery phrase

If you’re completely locked out, your recovery phrase is usually the most convenient way to get back into your account.

It lets you reset your password and recover your data at the same time — no need for two separate recovery methods.

How to use your recovery phrase

3. Use a password reset method, then recover your data

If you can’t use signed-in reset or your recovery phrase, you’ll need to use two separate recovery methods — one password reset method, and one data recovery method.

After recovering your account

Some recovery methods can only be used once. Once you’ve recovered your account, you should regenerate any recovery methods that can’t be used a second time.

1. Open your account recovery settings (Settings → All settings → Recovery).
2. Scroll to the recovery method (or methods) you used.

If your recovery method can’t be used again, you’ll see a notification saying Your <recovery method> is outdated.

3. Click Update recovery method, and follow the steps to update your recovery method.

Account recovery for Proton organization members

If you’re a non-private user in a Proton for Business or Proton Visionary organization, you won’t be able to use recovery methods. Contact your administrator for help resetting your password.

Lost two-factor authentication (2FA)

If your security key or authenticator app is lost or not working, you can sign in with a recovery code (provided when you set up 2FA) or another recovery method.

• How to recover your account if you can’t access your 2FA

Account recovery and two-password mode

All recovery methods work for two-password mode — even if you lose both passwords.

A password reset automatically reverts your account to one-password mode. Once you’re back into your account, you can re-enable two-password mode in Settings.