Lost 2FA Authenticator (2024)

Good morning,

I am currently locked out of my main account because I got a new phone on Tuesday and factory reset the old one a little too quickly. I had to create this secondary account because there are no support options available to me on the "Help & Contact" pages and the only option that is offered at all, this community, requires being able to login too🤔

I've tried to Google the issue and every result seems to suggest I need to call PayPal via phone. However, as per announcement on the support pages, all phone lines are currently closed due to COVID-19.

So how do I resolve this problem? I am fully locked out of my account and need someone to remove 2FA to be able to login again.

Thanks

• Labels:
• Login Issues

I have finally managed to find someone to help me.

1. Go tohttps://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/contact-us

2. Click Password and account access

3. Click Login problems

4. Click "Message us"

5. Click "Chat with us about your password issue"

Immediately state that "I switched phones and lost my authenticator app. Can you help me remove it please?"

Make sure you have the following details ready:

- Your PayPal email

- Last 4 digits of bank account / credit cards on the account

- Mobile phone number (and have the phone in front of you)

They will send you a one-time text with a code to verify you.

Note: I had to try 3 times before an agent did this for me. Do not expect it to work on the first attempt. Just move on to the next person if you get one who is unwilling to help.

Bump. I've been trying everything and from what I gather talking to a real person via phone is the only way to help me. However, your phone support is closed, so please tell me how to get help☹️

I have a customer who opened a dispute case over a payment and I cannot respond to them because I can't login without the authenticator. Surely there must be a way to help me.

Yes,

I'm having exactly the same problem! I cannot access my main account anymore and I had to create secondary account just to try to contact Paypal.

And because of the COVID-19 I can't call the support either since they have closed the phone support.

This is really quite surprising for me that there is no way to use the phone number and SMS message as a backup to authenticator if it fails. There should be a better way to handle this kind of situation.

Please tell me if anyone gets some kind of contact open to Paypal, I have absolutely no idea how I could try to contact paypal in this case.

This issue is still ongoing and there are several posts open by other customers who have the exact same problem and are similarly frustrated with the lack of help from PayPal.

I've tried Twitter, Facebook, Phone & Chat Support from another region, etc. Everybody redirects me to the website to "Help & Contact" as if that were the magical solution. My password has been reset by support several times also, again seemingly as if they think that would remove the two factor authentication from the account.

And the PayPal employees on this forum seem to post in just about every thread, but they specifically avoid replying to all threads with this problem.

I don't understand why nobody at PayPal will help us. They're happy enough charging me fees for my transactions but when I need help getting back into my account I get a whole lot of nothing. Brilliant support.

I have finally managed to find someone to help me.

1. Go tohttps://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/contact-us

2. Click Password and account access

3. Click Login problems

4. Click "Message us"

5. Click "Chat with us about your password issue"

Immediately state that "I switched phones and lost my authenticator app. Can you help me remove it please?"

Make sure you have the following details ready:

- Your PayPal email

- Last 4 digits of bank account / credit cards on the account

- Mobile phone number (and have the phone in front of you)

They will send you a one-time text with a code to verify you.

Note: I had to try 3 times before an agent did this for me. Do not expect it to work on the first attempt. Just move on to the next person if you get one who is unwilling to help.

For non US countries make sure you have selected the right page,

i.e. for Romania ishttps://www.paypal.com/ro/smarthelp/contact-us

Good point, thanks!

It IS necessary to change state code, otherwise you cannot chat with support.

Thanks to this PayPal operator called me in 2 minutes! Unbelievable for me.

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@florentinsjust went through this process and can confirm this is the link you need to start a chat without logging in. First attempt i was asked to wait 2 days for a callback (which did not happen, second attempt the issue was resolved in minutes.

Thanks a million for pointing me to the right location. This is not very clear on the support pages.

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