This guide is for individuals going through a Persona-powered identity verification flow. While we’ve included helpful tips, the verification was set up by the business, service, or organization that asked you to verify. They use Persona as a tool, and they ultimately decide what’s required and can assist with your specific situation, if you’re having trouble.
The code arrived, and the screen still says no
Almost always one of these, in this order of likelihood.
- You used an older code. If you tapped resend, only the newest one works. Scroll to the bottom of your messages and use the most recent, not the first one you can see.
- The code timed out. Codes are short lived on purpose. If you left the screen and came back, request a fresh one rather than typing the old one.
- A character was misread. A zero and a capital O look alike in some fonts, as do a one and a lowercase L. Type it rather than trusting a glance.
- Autofill filled the wrong thing. Phones sometimes offer a code from an earlier message. Clear the field and type it by hand.
- A space or a stray character came along with a copy and paste. Paste into the field, then check what actually landed there.
- You are on a different screen than you think. If you have the verification flow open in two tabs, or on both a computer and a phone, the code belongs to one of them. Use the one that asked.
When no code arrives at all
That is a different problem, and it is covered separately in Troubleshoot: Receiving SMS and Troubleshoot: Receiving email.
One thing worth doing first: go back a screen and check the number or address you entered. A single wrong digit sends the code somewhere else entirely, and it is the most common cause by a distance.
If you keep requesting new codes
Resending over and over can work against you. Each new code cancels the one before it, so if two arrive close together it becomes genuinely confusing which one is live, and some flows limit how many times you can ask.
Better to wait a full minute after a request before deciding it has not arrived. Text messages are frequently slow rather than missing.
Codes for moving between devices
If the code was for switching from a computer to your phone, it belongs to a handoff and it has its own short deadline. See Device handoff: continue verification on another device and How long I have to finish verifying.
If none of this works
Go back to the business that asked you to verify. Tell them codes are arriving but not being accepted, and give them the number or address you used. They set the flow up, and they can send you a fresh link or offer another route.