Access Account: Recover My Forgotten or Inactive Penn State Access Account

Article Intended For

Former Penn State faculty, staff, students, and other affiliates.

Introduction

If you no longer remember your Penn State user ID, or your account has expired, you may be able to recover and reactivate your account by following the instructions below. 

NOTE: This process sends an email to the non-psu "recovery" email address associated with your Penn State Access Account. You may have provided this email address when your Access Account was created. You may also have added or updated it at some point after your account was created. If you never provided a non-psu account, or no longer have access to the account you provided, you will not be able to use this process to recover your account. Instead, please contact the IT Service Desk for assistance.

Step-by-Step Instructions 

1. Go to Penn State's Account Management web page (https://accounts.psu.edu) and click RECOVER MY ACCOUNT.
   
   
2. Enter the requested information as follows:
   
   
   1. Under Primary Questions:
      
      
      1. Enter the Last Name under which your Penn State account was created. 
         
         
      2. Enter your Date of Birth
         
         
         
         
   2. Under Secondary Questions:
      
      
      1. Click one of the following:
         • Penn State ID (9-digit number) OR
         • Email Address (if you know the secondary/recovery email address associated with your account) OR
         • Social Security Number
           
           
      2. Enter the appropriate value in the field provided.
         
         NOTE: If you chose Email Address, you must enter the non-psu email address (recovery email) associated with your Penn State Access Account. 
         
         
         
         
3. Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen.
   
   A set of images such as the one shown below is displayed.
   
   
   
   
4. Click all of the images that meet the criteria indicated, and click Verify.
   
   The following message is displayed on your screen: If we find a Penn State account associated with the information you provided, you will receive an email from us shortly. 
   
   
5. Log in to the recovery email account associated with your Access Account and look for an email from accounts@psu.edu, with the subject Your Penn State Account Details.
   
   NOTE: Your account recovery email is the non-psu email address associated with your Penn State Access Account. You may have provided the email address when the account was created, or updated it at some point after your account was created. If you no longer have access to your recovery email account, please contact the IT Service Desk for assistance. 
   
   If you can't find the email, see knowledge base article I Didn't Receive the Automated Email I Was Expecting.
   
   
6. Open the email and click the Password Reset button.
   
   
7. Follow the prompts to reset your password.
   
   For step-by-step instructions and trouble-shooting tips, see knowledge base article Change or Reset Password for Penn State Access Account (WebAccess).