Wikipedia:Request an account
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To prevent the automated creation of Wikipedia accounts using bots or scripts, Wikipedia uses an image verification method (called a CAPTCHA) to assure that new accounts are being created by a real person. To further combat account creation abuse, Wikipedia also prevents the creation of new accounts with usernames that are too similar to other existing Wikipedia accounts.
If you have attempted to create an account but are having trouble with the CAPTCHA image verification step (perhaps because you are using a screen reader or a browser that does not support images), or if you have chosen a username that is too similar to an existing username, you can request an account be created for you.
Your username must represent you as an individual person.
Accounts with usernames that meet any of the following criteria are not allowed on Wikipedia:
- consist only of the name of a company, organization, website, musical group, team, club, creative group, or organized event;
- describe only a particular role, title, or position that can be held by different people, or a department, group, or team within a parent organization or group that includes multiple people;
- are promotional or show that the user's primary intent is to advertise, promote, sell, gain support for, or increase awareness of any person, company, market, product, channel, website, or other good or service; and
- imply that the user account will be shared between more than one person.
Your username must be truthful, appropriate, and not foster a negative editing environment.
Any and all Wikipedia accounts, regardless of age, with usernames that meet any of the following criteria will be immediately blocked upon discovery:
- are offensive, profane, violent, threatening, sexually explicit, disruptive, or intended to advocate or encourage such behavior (including criminal or illegal acts);
- contain statements that are libelous, contentious, or disparaging, or disclose any private or non-public information about another person (either another Wikipedia editor or a notable living person);
- are deliberately deceptive, confusing, misleading, unnecessarily long, similar to the usernames of other accounts, or intended to impersonate or falsely present themselves as someone or something they are not (another Wikipedia editor, a notable living person, an "official" Wikimedia Foundation account, etc.) in bad faith;
- imply that the account has explicit ownership of any articles, content, topic areas, or Wikipedia processes; has any kind of "power" or "authority" over other editors; is subject to different standards of accountability under Wikipedia's policies and guidelines than other users (such as implying that certain policies do not apply to them); or has any administrative or "moderator" access levels or user rights;
- imply the intent to troll, vandalize, or disrupt Wikipedia;
- imply the intent to personally attack, harass, or threaten other Wikipedia users; and
- imply that you are not here to build an encyclopedia or will use Wikipedia for purposes that it was not created for.
Note: This box contains a summary of the username policy, and it may not reflect the latest updates to that policy. Please refer to the full text of Wikipedia:Username policy and, in the case of any discrepancy, update this summary if needed.
Instructions
To request an account using the 'Request an Account' process, please read and follow all of the instructions below:
Before you begin
Below is a list of important items you must review or complete before requesting an account:
- Please review Wikipedia's username policy. Your request will be rejected if the username you chose for your account does not comply with this policy.
- Note that you should typically use only one account on Wikipedia.[note 1]
- Understand that this process can only assist with the creation of a new account. We cannot provide assistance with any existing accounts, such as changing an account's username, appealing any blocks or bans, or recovering access to an account that you lost the credentials to.[note 2]
- You must provide a valid email address in order to submit your request. After submitting it, you will receive a verification email within the next 10 minutes with instructions. You must follow them in order to verify your email address and have your request added to the queue for review.
When you are ready to begin
- Click on the blue "Request an account" button located below.
- Answer the questions in the Request an Account wizard. It will help you try creating an account for yourself, which is much faster than using the account request process.
- Complete the Account Request Application, filling out all fields.
- You are required to disclose all of your alternate or existing Wikipedia accounts that you own or control, including any accounts that you've previously used, by providing the information of each one using the comments field.[note 3]
- Account Request Applications that do not disclose this information will be denied, and you may face sanctions on-wiki.
- In addition, Account Request Applications will not be approved if evidence is found that shows that the account will be used as an alternate account for illegitimate purposes.
- Check your email for updates and further instructions regarding your request.
- If your request is approved, you will receive an automated email from wiki
wikimedia.org with your username and a randomly generated password to use in order to access it. When you log in to your account for the first time, you will be required to create a new password before continuing. After this is done, you can begin editing and contributing to Wikipedia using your account immediately. - If there are issues or concerns with your Account Request Application, you will receive an email with either a request for information or with an explanation and the reason your account request could not be approved. You are welcome to use this process to try again; just use the wizard like you did before. Fill and submit a new Account Request Application with the updated or changed information.
- If your request is approved, you will receive an automated email from wiki
Didn't receive your account update email?
We try to respond to requests within 24 hours of confirming your email address. However, requests can take to take up to 2–3 days depending on the volume of requests. In rare cases, responding to your submission may take longer. Please be patient; if you followed all of the directions provided to you on this page, the Account Request Application Form page, and that were sent to your email address in order to verify that it is valid, your request has been received and will be processed as soon as possible.
Before submitting another Account Application Request or inquiring about the progress of your submission, perform each step listed below:
- Try recovering the account that you requested. If your request was approved and you didn't receive the email containing your temporary password, you can have a new password emailed to you by filling out Wikipedia's password reset form.
- Check your email account's Spam or Junk Mail folders for the message.
- Check through any category tabs or category folders that are automatically created and enabled by your mailbox provider. Some mailbox providers, such as Gmail, create folders that will automatically categorize your incoming email messages depending on their topic. Most of these categorization folders include names such as "Primary", "Social", "Promotions", "Updates", or "Forums".
- Verify that the Wikimedia message wasn't moved into another folder within your mailbox.
- Use your mailbox's search function to have it locate the message for you. Try searching for the message using the terms wikiwikimedia.org, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, or password.
Further information
Notes
- ↑ There are exceptions that allow for the legitimate creation and use of multiple accounts, which are listed and detailed on this section of Wikipedia's sock puppetry policy.
- ↑ If you cannot remember the password to your existing Wikipedia account and did not register or associate your account with a valid email address, then your Wikipedia account cannot be recovered using any Wikipedia function pages (such as the Password Reset Form). Your only option is to create a new Wikipedia account and request a usurpation of your old username.
- ↑ This is usually done by listing either the username or a link to the contributions page of each account. The ACC Tool User evaluating your Account Request Application just needs to be able to find each account you disclose using this page; as long as the information you provide allows us to do this, the information you disclose will likely be accepted. If you know that you've used one or more accounts in the past and cannot remember their usernames or any information about them, just state so. Any information that you can provide in good faith is better than providing no information at all.