Create a username and password that meet our rules.
When you create an account to use FamilySearch, use these standards to help create a strong username and password.
Username
- Aim for something that is both unique and easy for you to remember. The system notifies you if another person is already using the username you choose.
- The username field is not case-sensitive. You can use uppercase or lowercase letters interchangeably.
- Your username must contain between 4 and 64 characters (letters or numbers) but cannot contain spaces or diacritic characters.
- For ease of account recovery, do not use your email address as your username. If you choose to use your email address as your username, please also provide a mobile number when creating your account.
- The following symbols are not allowed:
- ,
- -
- +
- "
- \
- /
- < (the less-than symbol)
- > (the greater-than symbol)
- '
- &
- ;
- ^
- #
- =
- (
- )
- :
- %
- *
- |
Note: If an old account had a username containing a space or one of the characters listed above, it is no longer valid.
Password
- Your password must contain at least 8 characters (at least one letter and at least one number) and can contain spaces.
- To make your password more secure, use a combination of lowercase, uppercase, and numerical characters.
- Your password can contain one or more symbols.
- The password field is case-sensitive.
- Passwords cannot contain any character string identical to either the first or last name on the account. For example, if the name on the account is John Doe, neither John nor Doe can be used in the password.
- Make your password easy for you to remember, but difficult for someone else to guess. For example: 2018@MyNameIsCharlie. The longer your password phrase is, the harder it is for password crackers to resolve.
- The system notifies you if your password is too simple so that you can strengthen it.
If you still need help
Contact FamilySearch Support if you have problems creating or signing in to your account.