CommonNote CommonNote

Forgot your password or username

A verified recovery email receives a password reset link (valid for 1 hour) or a reminder of your username.

Applies to Web · Mac · iPhone app · requires a verified recovery email

If you’ve forgotten your password or username, you can recover it straight from the sign-in screen. Both options send an email to your verified recovery email, so if you never added and verified one, this route can’t recover your account. If you can still sign in, verify your recovery email now in Account security.

Reset your password

  1. On the sign-in screen, click Forgot your username or password?
  2. On the Reset your password screen, enter either your username or your recovery email and click Send email.
  3. Open the [CommonNote] Reset your password email and click the link. The link works once and is valid for 1 hour.
  4. On the Set a new password screen, enter a new password (10+ characters) and click Change password.
  5. When you see “Password changed. Please sign in with the new one.”, sign in with your new password.
If your new password is rejected as too weak, the link still works. Just try again with a different password.

Find your username

  1. On the sign-in screen, click Forgot your username or password?
  2. Click Forgot your username? near the bottom.
  3. On the Find your username screen, enter your recovery email and click Send email.
  4. Your username is in the [CommonNote] Your username email.

What a reset changes

ItemAfter the reset
Signed-in devicesEvery device is signed out. Sign in again on each one with the new password.
API tokensAll are revoked. Create new ones if you need them.
PasskeysKept. The notice email says how many remain — remove any you don’t recognize in Account security.
Notice email[CommonNote] Your password was reset goes to your recovery email.
Notes and dataUnchanged.

If the email doesn’t arrive

  • The screen shows the same message whether or not the account exists (“If a recovery email is on file, we have sent a reset link.”). This stops others from finding out who has an account, so if nothing arrives, double-check the username or address you entered.
  • Emails only go to a recovery email that has been verified. If you added one but never clicked the confirmation link, nothing is sent.
  • Check your spam and promotions folders.
  • Too many requests in a short time are blocked for a while. Wait a bit and try again.
  • If you registered a passkey, open commonnote.app in a browser that can use it (Safari, Chrome and so on) and choose Sign in with a passkey — the Mac and iPhone apps don’t show this button. Once you’re in, verify your recovery email in Account security.

If you lost the confirmation email from sign-up, use Resend signup verification email on the sign-in screen. If none of this helps, see Check service status and contact support.