Sign-in Troubleshooting (Admins)
If your congregants or parishioners have trouble signing in, they may call or contact you. You can use this chart to answer their questions.
Signing into software and apps is a source of frustration for nearly everyone who uses their phone or computers for work or pleasure. (We deal with it too!) So we've curated our collective knowledge to help you resolve these issues in your own church or parish. Visit MinistrySmart to check out our Realm user training called "Help! I can't Log In".
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Congregant has no account | The congregant never finished setting up their account with Realm. | Check their profile to see if they have an Account Email listed. If there's no account, make sure they have an email listed in Realm and send a Realm Invite. |
| Email invite isn't working | The email invite link expires after 90 days for non-staff, and 24 hours for staff. | For congregants/parishioners, send a reminder email. For staff/volunteers, contact support to reset their account status and resend the invite. |
| Email invite was not received | Email was delivered to the spam folder or wrong email address. | Have them check their spam folder and whitelist Realm emails. Verify their listed email is correct. |
| Congregant's email is not working | They are using the wrong email to sign in. | Compare their email to the Account Email on their profile page. |
| Congregant or staff/volunteer's password is not working | The user is entering their password incorrectly. | Have them turn on the view-password icon to verify their password entry as they type. If they've forgotten their password, see Reset Your Password. If no email arrives, have them check their spam folder. |
| User lost access to their verification method | They got a new phone, changed their email address, or can't get the code. | Have them use a recovery code to sign in, then add a new method. If they've lost their recovery codes, contact Support to reset their two-step verification. They can then set it up again. |
| Staff member can't turn off two-step verification | It's required for administrators, staff, and anyone with permissions (responsibilities). | This is expected and can't be turned off. |
| The two-step verification screen shows no available methods | A browser extension, such as an ad blocker, may be hiding them. | If the two-step verification screen doesn't list any methods, a browser extension, such as an ad blocker, may be hiding them. Try signing in from a private or incognito window. If that works, turn off the extension or add the Realm sign-in page as an exception in its settings. |
| Other problems | There might be a browser or computer issue. | Have them clear their browser cookies and cache and/or reboot their computer. |
| Congregant's Google, Apple, or Microsoft account isn't working for Realm | Users might not be using the same Google, Apple, or Microsoft account they used for their Realm account. | Ensure they are using the correct Google, Apple, or Microsoft account. Ensure they are signed in to the correct user profile on their browser, and not a shared profile. |
| Congregant can't sign in to their Google, Apple, or Microsoft account | The password for that Google, Apple, or Microsoft account might have been updated. | Have them reset their password for their Google, Apple, or Microsoft account. Changes can take time to be recognized by Realm. |