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Check for look-alike characters in your login details

Find out whether look-alike characters in your username or password are stopping you from logging in.

Written by James Pardy

If you've checked your username and password and still can't log in, some characters may look identical on screen but be different. You can check for these yourself in a few minutes, and you don't need to share your password to do it.

Check for look-alike characters

Some characters look almost identical in many fonts, so they're easy to mistype. The most common pairs are:

  • The lowercase letter l and the capital letter I.

  • The number zero and the capital letter O.

  • The number one and the lowercase letter l or the capital letter I.

📌Note: Font styles can make these characters look the same on screen, so looking at the screen may not be enough to tell them apart.

Check your username and password

Enter your login details slowly so you can check each character as you type it.

  1. Enter your username, checking each character as you type it.

  2. Enter your password, checking each character as you type it.

  3. Click the Log in button.

If you still can't log in, continue to the next section.

🤓Tip: Your browser or password manager may fill in an old password. If it does, clear the field and type your password yourself.

Check your keyboard layout

Keyboards in different regions place some symbols in different positions. A password typed on the wrong layout can fail, even when it looks correct.

  • Check which keyboard layout your device is set to, such as UK or US.

  • Use the same layout you used when you created your password.

Reset your password

If you still can't log in, reset your password and check each character as you enter the new one.

  1. Click the password reset option on the login page.

  2. Follow the instructions sent to you to create a new password.

  3. Enter your new password, checking each character as you type it.

  4. Click the Log in button to confirm the new password works.

🤓Tip: Where you can, choose a password without look-alike characters, such as l, I, 1, 0 and O.

Contact our support team

If you've tried these steps and still can't log in, contact our support team.

Tell them which steps you've already tried, so they can help you more quickly.

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