Common login problems with your Proton Account

Below is a list of common problems you may encounter while logging into your Proton Account and solutions to fix them.

Password managers

Not all password managers support our service, especially if you are in two-password mode. If you are using a password manager, please try disabling it for Proton Mail and manually enter the password.

If this works, please file a bug report with us describing your password manager and computer so that we can make them work with Proton Mail. You can submit a bug report here.

Disable Private Browsing (Safari)

If you’re using Apple’s Safari browser, make sure it’s not set to Private Browsing. This is the default mode on some devices. Proton Mail does not work with Safari’s Private Browsing because it disables certain browser technologies we require.

Try another browser

If you’re having trouble with your current web browser, please make sure it is updated to the latest version.

If it is the latest version, please try logging in on a different browser to see if that fixes the login problem. If this solves the login problem for you, please contact us to report this bug so we can make Proton Mail compatible with your original browser.

Internet Explorer versions prior to 11 and Safari versions prior to 6 do not support Proton Mail’s cryptography library.

See the browsers supported and recommended by Proton Mail

Clear browser cache and restart browser

Sometimes, problems are caused by a corrupted browser cache. To fix this, try clearing your browser cache and then restarting the browser.

Learn more about how to clear your cache and delete cookies

Disable browser extensions

If you’re still having trouble logging in, please try logging in through the Private or Incognito mode of your browser (Safari excluded) or deactivating all extensions.

If this step allows you to log in, please try deactivating each extension one at a time and then test logging in to identify which extension is causing the problem. This information will help us work on making that extension functional with Proton Mail. You can contact us to report problematic extensions.

Known problems with extensions:

• Random Agent Spoofer: “Disable Authorization headers” must be unchecked to use Proton Mail.

Incorrect domain

You can log in to Proton Mail using either your username johnsmith or with the full domain name johnsmith@proton.me.

Note, even though Proton Mail provides both .ch and .com domain names, if your email address is johnsmith@proton.me, it is not possible to log in as johnsmith@protonmail.ch and vice versa, unless of course you are a Proton Mail Plus user and have specifically added both addresses to your account.

If you forgot whether your account is .ch or .com, you can contact us to find out.

If you’re using Proton Mail with a custom domain (e.g. john@johnsmith.com), you can log in using either your Proton Mail username or your full custom domain address john@johnsmith.com.

If your account belongs to an organization and you only have a non-Proton Mail address (for example, john@company.com), then you must log in using your full john@company.com address.

Try another platform

If you cannot log into Proton Mail through your web browser, you can also try accessing Proton Mail through our free iOS(new window) and Android(new window) applications.

Make sure JavaScript, sessionStorage, and cookies are enabled

In using Proton Mail in your browser, Proton Mail will not work unless JavaScript, sessionStorage, and cookies are enabled. Sometimes plugins may disable some of these features.

Learn how to enable JavaScript, sessionStorage, and cookies

Two-factor authentication (2FA) issue

If you have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, you may have a problem with your 2FA code generating device. Try to log in using one of the emergency recovery codes that we provided when you set up 2FA.

Also, if the clock of your phone is off by more than 2 minutes, 2FA may not work properly, so you want to make sure the time is set properly on your phone (or sync the time with the network automatically).

Reset your passwords

If none of the above suggestions works, you may need to reset your password. Because of the encryption we use to protect your data, your messages may become unreadable after a password reset.

Learn how to recover your emails and encrypted files after a password reset (data recovery)

Contact us or report a bug

If none of the above methods work for you, please contact us so we can look into the issue further.

We’re also interested in hearing from you if any of the above methods fixes your login problem so that we can find the root cause and fix the problem.