my Social Security Saves You Time for the Important Things
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: November 3, 2023
Time is our most valuable resource. How you spend it is important. A my Social Security account helps free your time for the important things. What is a my Social Security account? Watch this video to find out:
Have you got a personal my Social Security account? If not, open yours today. You’ll find it’s easy, convenient, and secure.
This Financial Literacy Month, take control of your future, and see what you can do online.
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Tags: my Social Security, my Social Security account
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Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
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Gary
The response to these questions on the reset code is bogus. If you don’t remember your password and request a reset code no place to enter it. Whoever Vonda is she is useless in answering the question. Should not be this hard to re access your account. SO VONDA I HAVE MY USER NAME AND DO NOT HAVE MY PASSWORD AND DO NOT REMEMBER MY ANSWERS, BUT HAVE A RESET CODE WHERE DO I ENTER IT!!!!!
Vonda
Hi Gary, thanks for using the blog. Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing with your my Social Security account. If you no longer have access to the second factor (cell phone or email address) on your account, and you need to change the second factor, you then can request a reset code online. You do not use a reset code if you forgot your password. If you forgot your password and the password reset answers:
1.Go to “Forgot Password”;
2.Enter your username, Social Security number, and date of birth; and
3.On the password reset questions screen, select “I can’t remember my answers”:
•If you have registered only your cell phone as your second factor, we will email you a temporary password.
•If you have registered email as a second method of identification, or have not registered any second method, we will send a temporary password letter to your registered address in 5 to 10 business days.
Once you get the temporary password, use it to sign in to your account and reset your password.
Frustrated H.
It’s pretty clear from previous questions and comments that your password and username reset and MFA experiences don’t make sense or work as you state. There’s no place to enter a reset code. End of story so please stop sending us on a dead-end FAQ experience loop. Perhaps you should try to simulate the directions you’re offering and see they don’t work.
Deborah P.
I haven’t received my Medicare card yet, but need the number for supplemental Ins before the 7th of December..
Many thanks
Vonda
Hi Deborah, thanks for using our blog. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to get a replacement Medicare card and your number. We hope this helps!
JoAnn K.
I agree that this doesn’t work. I have asked for temp passwords, a few times over a couple of years, and they either didn’t come or wouldn’t work. I got a new temp password letter yesterday and it says that it is invalid. I spent a couple of hours on the phone this am to be told to go to the help desk and then I spent some more time on hold was disconnected. I don’t know my old password either as I deleted it from Norton one of the times I was trying to get in and the security questions do not correspond to the ones I have written down.
Vonda
Hi JoAnn, thanks for using our blog. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing. You can call our my Social Security Help Desk at 1-800-772-1213 Monday through Friday, 8:00 am – 7:00 pm. At the voice prompt, say “helpdesk”. Our call volume and wait times are longer than normal, so please be patient. Thanks!
Charles C.
User Name issue.
I can not find my user name information..
When I go to “forgot user name” it comes back not able to verify.
I believe my account has an outdated e-mail address that I no longer have access to.
I did get notification regarding a message via txt.
?????
Vonda
Hi Charles, thanks for using our blog. Sorry to hear you are having difficulties accessing your my Social Security account. For assistance with your account, you may call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or you can contact your local Social Security office. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.
David E.
I forgot my password, and the email did not come in a timely manner so the code was expired when it came. I requested an received a reset code, but I do not see any where to enter it. Please help ! I agree that with the other writers that this is complicated
Vonda
Hi David, thank you for using our blog. When you sign in with your username and password, it will then ask if you received a reset letter. You select “Yes, let’s begin” . The reset code is issued when you need to change the second factor authentication method associated with your information.
If you forgot your password, and the password reset questions didn’t work, we can send a temporary password in some circumstances. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to retrieve or change your username or password. We hope this helps.
Stanley G.
I have the same issue. I forgot my password and I was sent a reset code in the mail. The instructions tell me to sign in with my username and password. I don’t know my password. That’s why I was sent a reset code in the mail. There is no place to enter my reset code. I called and the person on the phone said to enter my reset code. Well after a few hours of trying to figure this out, I am frustrated and tired of being led to a page to receive a reset code in the mail. What do you suggest now?
Vonda
Hi Stanley, thanks for using our blog. If you no longer have access to the second factor (cell phone or email address) on your account, and you need to change the second factor, you then can request a reset code online. The system will mail a reset code letter to the address on file. You then enter this reset code online, after signing in with your username and password, to change the second factor associated with your information.
If you forgot your password, and the password reset questions didn’t work, we can send a temporary password in some circumstances. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to retrieve or change your username or password. We hope this helps.
Wendy P.
I agree with the other comments. I got a letter with a code to change my password but there is no place to change it. You get caught up in a loop that does not help you at all. I have been unable to get into my account to get a statement of my account. This is one of the worst online experiences that I have had. Someone that knows what they are doing definitely needs to work on this system and make it user friendly.
Vonda
Hi Wenday, thanks for using our blog. If you no longer have access to the second factor (cell phone or email address) on your account, and you need to change the second factor, you then can request a reset code online. The system will mail a reset code letter to the address on file. You then enter this reset code online, after signing in with your username and password, to change the second factor associated with your information. If you forgot your password, and the password reset questions didn’t work, we can send a temporary password in some circumstances. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to retrieve or change your username or password. We hope this helps.
grace r.
Wow, I work with software and this was the worst experience i have ever had. I can’t imagine how an elderly person would navigate this site. I forgot my password and reset it and got the email with the temp password, but when logging back in it required a secondary verification via text. I had changed my phone so i had to have it mailed. I got the letter and logged in and there was no where to put the code in. It put me in a loop to request another code via text or mail. then I called and got a nice human who cancelled my account so I could create a new one. however, the questions asked are so vague that I could not answer them. I don’t know what year I got a specific credit card. i do know my mortgage co & your system said i was wrong. it also said my old phone was wrong and it wasn’t. Now my car loan company i entered and nope you said it was wrong. this is the worst computer system and it appears others have had the same issue.
grace r.
I requested my password reset and got an email 11/9 with a temp password and logged in. However, my phone has changed so I couldn’t get the code via text. So it said to request a reset code by mail. I got the letter and logged in with my temp password and then it says continue, but there is no where to put the reset code & it only takes me to a page to request a new reset code. I see this has happened multiple times on the questions section. I read and re-read the letter and there are no instructions other than to go to your website and enter the code. Please call me at 737 235 9829 as I can’t seem to get through on the phone. I made a phone appointment and didn’t get the call.
Vonda
Hi Grace, thank you for using our blog. When you sign in with your username and password, it will then ask if you received a reset letter. You select “Yes, let’s begin”. The reset code is issued when you need to change the second factor authentication method associated with your information. We hope this helps!
Richard G.
Vonda,
Your response is total BS. Your system + what the users see are not the same!!!
Joey
You keep writing this and it’s in the letter as well, but the problem is that the system will not accept our username + password combination, or the answers we provide when trying to retrieve a password. I’m having all the same problems everyone is describing here, so I called in and the person I spoke with said that you would send me a letter with my personal reset code. But the system will not except that either, so I’m back to square one. This code expires on Jan 22nd. Because I had previously requested only electronic communications, I no longer am able to get any notifications! Please just tell us where we’re supposed to enter that code, and please don’t say to sign in using our username and password because that doesn’t work! Please do something about this ASAP so that we who trusted the SSA website can use it!
Vonda
Hi Joey, thanks for using the blog. Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing with your my Social Security account. If you no longer have access to the second factor (cell phone or email address) on your account, and you need to change the second factor, you then can request a reset code online. You do not use a reset code if you forgot your password. If you forgot your password and the password reset answers:
1.Go to “Forgot Password”;
2.Enter your username, Social Security number, and date of birth; and
3.On the password reset questions screen, select “I can’t remember my answers”:
•If you have registered only your cell phone as your second factor, we will email you a temporary password.
•If you have registered email as a second method of identification, or have not registered any second method, we will send a temporary password letter to your registered address in 5 to 10 business days.
Once you get the temporary password, use it to sign in to your account and reset your password.
Michael
This is NOT how it works. At no point after signing in does it ask if we received a reset code. Please, before giving advice on how to do what should be simple, try it from the user standpoint first.
Vincent B.
pls. reset my code
Lairon T.
I recieved a letter wih my reset code. but, it cannot find my account. But, when I try to set up a new account it says I already have an account. The reset code expires January 2, 2021.
Vonda
Hi Lairon, thank you for using our blog. When you sign in with your username and password, it will then ask if you received a reset letter. You select “Yes, let’s begin”. The reset code is issued when you need to change the second factor authentication method associated with your information.
If you forgot your password, and the password reset questions didn’t work, we can send a temporary password in some circumstances. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions web page for details on how to retrieve or change your username or password. We hope this helps.
Richard G.
Unable to do anything that the one-time reset code letter said to do. The website on the letter is different when you try to get online. There is no specific location to just enter the onetime reset code. I have searched high + low for the correct way to get into the website. Once I get asked about my security questions, the machine tells me that the security answers are wrong. Since I have tried three times, I am now locked out for 24 hours. So my frustration with your ‘krap’ system continues.
This sounds like I will have to have my account deleted + then start all over from square one. The Local Las Vegas Office is not helpful @ all – Especially Ms Cuffie. Ms Cuffie did not want to deal with helping me. She was unable to answer any of my questions. She seemed extremely lazy, not helpful + needs to retire. At least most Social Security Agents will get you an answer. Her bottomline was you just have to wait for the mail service to work. Now I know why they have metal sliding barriers @ the Buffalo Office.
I hope that you will not send any answers to my SSA account email. Why? Because I will never get the email. Do I think that is what will happen. You betcha!
And if you tell me to call in there goes 3-4 hours of my life that will be gone + my stress level will continue.
PS Even your employees say your security protocols – should nice – but they fail regularly.
Anna E.
I have tried to reset my user and password several time. Every time I get a notice one of them is not correct.
Also, would not accept the terms I entered to help me set back on my account. Am trying to get a copy of a form verifying my social security monthly retirement.
Please help me.
Thank you, Anna E. Phillips
Vonda V.
Hi Anna, thanks for using our blog. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing with your my Social Security account. For assistance with your account and to request a benefit verification letter, you can call us at 1-800-772-1213 or you can contact your local Social Security office. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.
Stephanie B.
where do you enter reset code?
Vincent B.
HI im just to get into my account. what is needed .to reset?