Keep your account recovery details up to date

Why it matters

When you forget a password or lose a phone, the recovery email and phone number are how the service sends a reset. If they are out of date, you cannot get in. If they belong to someone else, they can.

Common problems:

• A recovery email at an old job, an internet provider you have left, or a former employee’s address.
• A phone number you no longer have, which may now belong to a stranger.
• Important business accounts recovered to one person’s personal email.

Checklist

• Review recovery details on your email, banking, payroll and other important accounts once a year.
• Remove old numbers and addresses, and add current ones.
• For business accounts, such as your domain registrar, social media, bank and key suppliers, use a shared business address that more than one person can reach.
• Save recovery codes, where a service offers them, in a password manager.
• When someone leaves, check whether any business account uses their email or phone for recovery, and change it.