# Is it possible to recover/reset account if hardware 2fa key is lost?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533
**Category:** Support
**Tags:** 2fa
**Created:** [February 23, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533 "2024-02-23T20:01:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![maxb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@maxb](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maxb)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/1 "2024-02-23T20:01:04Z")

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Hello all,

I am dealing with an account of a user who lost his physical 2FA key (I assume a YubiKey or something similar). Is it possible for me to manually reset his password/allow him to bypass his 2FA one time in order to recover the account without needing to delete his account and have him start from scratch?

It is mentioned as being possible in this thread: [Can't log into community account without a physical security key - #3 by RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/t/cant-log-into-community-account-without-a-physical-security-key/215677/3) but I wasn’t able to find instructions on how to go about it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

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### Author: ![maxb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@maxb](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maxb)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/2 "2024-02-23T20:04:13Z")

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I found this guide: [Disable 2FA via console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/disable-2fa-via-console/148309)

For anyone else looking 🫡

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### Author: ![RGJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/rgj/32/523185_2.png) [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/3 "2024-02-23T20:24:52Z")

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![896a38998c8c0ea8f954f77e138a49d0fc642ae6](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/4/5/b/45ba062698b072e736d4f54536960e8df4479ed4.png)

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### Author: ![ecki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/ecki/32/264025_2.png) [@ecki](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ecki)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/4 "2024-02-23T20:40:40Z")

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Can an admin user not just open the user, press the admin button and change the settings on the security tab? I know you can at least reset email or password that way.

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### Author: ![Firepup650](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/firepup650/32/465200_2.png) [@Firepup650](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Firepup650)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/5 "2024-02-23T20:43:00Z")

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No, though as `@RGJ` showed, admins can disable a user’s 2FA entirely.

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### Author: ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/system/32/443519_2.png) [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-it-possible-to-recover-reset-account-if-hardware-2fa-key-is-lost/296533/6 "2024-03-24T20:43:01Z")

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