• Error message: "Account locked for security reasons" when attempting to sign in
• Unable to log in to account.

You (or someone else) used the wrong password three or more times when attempting to sign in to your account.

Yahoo! uses temporary, automatic account locking as a security measure to protect accounts from unauthorized access. Sometimes you can also become temporarily locked out of your own account as a result.

Reasons you might see an account locked message:

• Three or more failed sign in attempts: This triggers our security system to temporarily lock the account for 24 hours.
• They're automatic security measures: In case an unauthorized person tried to access the account, we lock it for your protection.
• Someone with a similar Yahoo! ID accidentally typed your ID on log in: If you haven't recently tried to sign in to your account, then it could be someone else's harmless mistake. Their Yahoo! ID may be similar to yours and they may have mistakenly typed in your Yahoo! ID instead of their own.

How our account lock works:

• It lasts 24 hours, starting on the third unsuccessful log in attempt.
• It doesn't reset. Attempting to login again within the 24 period will not help.
• Try again after 24 hours. Once the lockout time has expired, your password should work as usual.
• We can't provide the lock time information to you. We can't give you the exact time that your account was locked or when it will be unlocked.

• If you see an "Invalid Password" error message, see our help article about how to recover a lost password or go directly to our password helper.
• If you think someone may have accessed your account, see our help article on compromised accounts.