# account-recovery

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/account-recovery/
Last updated: 2026-09-21
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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The process by which a user regains access after losing their authenticator: a lost device, a forgotten password, or a revoked credential. It is a parallel authentication path, and its strength sets the real strength of the account.

Recovery is the most commonly under-designed part of an identity system. Deploying phishing-resistant authentication and then allowing a help desk to reset credentials after a few knowledge-based questions means the account's real assurance level is whatever the help desk enforces, and attackers know it. Passwordless deployments face this acutely: with no password to fall back on, recovery has to be designed deliberately, usually through multiple enrolled authenticators, a recovery code, or identity proofing at the same assurance level as enrolment.

See also: [help desk social engineering](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/help-desk-social-engineering/), [what is passwordless](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-passwordless/), [passkey](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/passkey/), [IDV](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/idv/)