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Manage accounts and training

Manage your own account

You need a ‘Signon’ account to access GOV.UK publishing applications such as Whitehall Publisher and Specialist Publisher.

Your GOV.UK lead or an organisation admin can request training and accounts for you.

They can also request changes to your permissions - for example, if you need to be an editor in Whitehall Publisher.

Sign in to Signon

If you have a Signon account, you can sign in to the 2 publishing environments.

Use:

You may want to bookmark these 2 links.

Sign in

On the ‘Sign in’ page, enter your email address and password. Once 2-step verification (2SV) is set up on your account, you’ll be asked to enter a unique code every 30 days. Go to the verification app in your phone to get the code. You will not receive the code in an email or text message.

If it’s your first time signing in, use the link in your invitation email to access your account, set a password and set up 2SV.

If you cannot sign in, contact the Government Digital Service (GDS).

Set up 2SV

2SV is a security feature that’s required for most GOV.UK Signon accounts.

You’ll need a smartphone to install a verification app - for example, Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator - or use a desktop authenticator app. GDS does not specify which verification app your department should use. If you’re not sure which app you should use, ask your IT department.

If you do not have a work phone, you can use your personal phone if your department allows it.

If you do not have a mobile phone you can use or you cannot use a desktop authenticator app, tell your GOV.UK lead or an organisation admin. You’ll need to work with your IT department to find an alternative solution.

If you have accessibility requirements and have questions about using 2SV, ask your GOV.UK lead or one of your organisation admins to send a support ticket to GDS.

Set up 2SV for both your Production and Integration accounts. For each account, sign in and then select the ‘Set up 2-step verification’ link from the right-hand side of the dashboard. Follow the instructions to set up 2SV.

Issues with 2-step verification

If you’ve changed your phone or desktop or your 2SV has stopped working, try these common fixes:

  • ask your GOV.UK lead or one of your organisation admins to reset your 2SV for you
  • check that you are inputting the right code from the authenticator app - if you have both an Integration and a Production account, make sure you are inputting the code for the right environment and ensure that the 6 digit code is entered without a space
  • if your authenticator app is not working, try switching to another app - for example, from Google Authenticator to Authy
  • check that the clock on your device is set to the correct timezone - an incorrect clock can cause codes to be out of sync
  • check that the time on the authenticator app itself is synced correctly - this can generally be fixed by going to the setting of the app and syncing the time correction for the codes

If none of these solutions work, ask your GOV.UK lead or one of your organisation admins to send a support ticket to GDS.

If you forget your password

  1. If you’re prompted to, enter the GOV.UK username and password.
  2. At ‘Sign in’ follow the ‘Forgot your passphrase?’ link.
  3. Enter the email address you registered with GOV.UK and click the button ‘Send me passphrase reset instructions’. You should receive the instructions by email. If you do not see them in your inbox, check your spam filter.
  4. If you have still not had a passphrase reset email, ask your GOV.UK lead or one of your organisation admins to contact GDS using the accounts request form.

Suspended accounts

Unused accounts are automatically suspended after 45 days of inactivity.

GDS will send a reminder to your email address 14 days, 7 days, 3 days and 1 day before suspension. The reminders give you an opportunity to sign in, which will reactivate your account and stop the suspension.

If your account has been suspended, your GOV.UK lead or one of your organisation admins can get your account unsuspended.