LibraryThing

Password reset guide · Social

How to reset your LibraryThing password

Q: What is LibraryThing's password reset page?

https://www.librarything.com/lost_something.php. Go there directly rather than through a link in an email, since reset pages are widely impersonated.

Do it by hand with the steps below, checked against LibraryThing's own documentation. Or connect Gmail once and Repass runs the same flow for you and seals the new password in your vault.

Reset LibraryThing for Me Show manual steps

~2 minutes · email recovery · 3-day free trial

At a glance

LibraryThing password reset, in one table

Verified facts about resetting a LibraryThing password
Reset by email	Yes
What the email contains	a reset link
Works with Repass	Yes

Checked against LibraryThing's own documentation. Sources.

The manual way

Reset your LibraryThing password in 5 steps

Open LibraryThing's password reset page
Go straight to www.librarything.com/lost_something.php. This is the same place the “Forgot password?” link on the sign-in screen sends you, so starting here saves a step and, more importantly, means you are typing your details into LibraryThing's own domain rather than whatever a search result offered you.

That matters more than it sounds. Password reset pages are the single most impersonated page on the internet, because a convincing copy collects exactly what an attacker needs. Check the address bar reads www.librarything.com/lost_something.php before you type anything.
Enter the email on the account
Type the email address the account uses. If you are not certain which address that is, search every inbox you own for old mail from librarything.com: receipts, sign-in alerts, notification digests. The inbox holding those is the account email, whatever you assumed it was.

This is where most resets quietly fail. People request a reset for the address they use today, get nothing, and conclude the account is gone, when in fact the reset went to an address they stopped checking years ago.
Open the reset email
Open the message from LibraryThing and follow its reset link. Nothing after a few minutes? Check spam and promotions, then confirm you entered the address the account actually uses.

Reset links are single-use and short-lived. Opening one on a different device to the one you will sign in on is fine; forwarding it to someone else is the same as handing over the account.
Choose a strong new password
Use 16 or more random characters, and never one you have used anywhere else. A reused password turns one company's breach into a break-in everywhere you reused it.
Store it somewhere sealed
Save it in a password manager or encrypted vault. Not a note, not a screenshot, and not “the usual one with a 2 on the end”, which is the same password as far as anyone attacking it is concerned.

The Repass way

Watch Repass reset LibraryThing.

Finding your LibraryThing account
Opening password recovery
Waiting for the reset email
Reset email found
Generating a 20-character password
Sealing it in your vault

You never give Repass your current LibraryThing password. It uses LibraryThing's ordinary account-recovery process to replace it, the same flow you would click through yourself.

An illustration of the agent's phases. Timings shown are not measured.

Get Started

Pick a route

Which LibraryThing recovery method should you use?

Start with what you still have access to, not with what you would prefer. Every route below verifies you through a contact method already on the account, which is why the answer is decided before you begin.

Still signed in somewhere?

Then change the password in settings instead. You will not need any of this.

You can still open the email on the account

Use the email reset. LibraryThing sends a link there and you are done in a couple of minutes. This is also the only route Repass can drive for you.

You have neither any more

This stops being a password problem and becomes an account-recovery one. Recover the email account or the phone number first.

When it goes wrong

Trouble resetting LibraryThing?

Password-reset email may not arrive if email address associated with account is no longer active

If the email address on file for a LibraryThing account has become inactive, the password-reset email cannot be delivered. Users with this issue should contact LibraryThing directly at info@librarything.com for manual assistance. Source

Password-reset email may be caught by spam filters

Users may not receive their password-reset email from noreply@librarything.com if it has been filtered to their spam or junk folder. Check spam folders and search email for messages from noreply@librarything.com before contacting support. Source

Reset token is single-use and quick-expiring

Password reset uses quick-expiring tokens that can only be used once, not the older system of temporary passwords. Tokens expire quickly, so users should complete the reset process promptly after requesting the email. Source

The reset email never arrived

Check spam and promotions, confirm the address you entered is the one the account uses, then request one more. Repeated requests can rate-limit you, so wait a few minutes between attempts rather than hammering the button.

Your phone number changed

Use the email route instead, as long as that inbox is still yours. Update the number as soon as you are back in, or the next reset has the same problem.

You think someone else is in the account

Reset first, then change the same password everywhere else you used it.

There is no password to reset

If you originally signed up with Google, Apple or Facebook, the account has no password of its own. Sign in the way you did the first time.

After the reset

Your password was not the only thing to fix.

1Check the recovery email on the account

The next reset goes to whatever address is on file today. If that is an inbox you no longer open, you are one forgotten password away from being locked out for good.

2Check the recovery phone number

Same reasoning. An old number is worse than no number, because it can end up reassigned to a stranger.

3Change it anywhere you reused it

If this password was used elsewhere, those accounts are as exposed as this one was. That is the job Repass exists to do in bulk.

Context

Why are you resetting your LibraryThing password?

I just forgot it

The ordinary case, and what the steps above are for. Nothing is wrong with the account.

I think someone else knows it

Reset it, then change the same password anywhere else you used it, since that is usually how they got it.

I reused it somewhere else

Change it here and everywhere else. Until you do, the weakest site holding that password decides the security of all of them.

It showed up in a breach

Rotate it even if LibraryThing was never breached. Passwords travel between sites in your head, not in theirs.

I have not changed it in years

Age alone is not a reason. Being reused, guessable or exposed is. Unique and random can be left alone.

Side by side

Repass, or LibraryThing by hand

Step	Repass	By hand
Find the right account	Automatic	You
Open the reset flow	Automatic	You
Search the inbox	Automatic	You
Open the reset link	Automatic	You
Generate a strong password	Automatic	You
Save it somewhere safe	Automatic	You
CAPTCHA	You approve	You
Texted code	You approve	You
Repeat for 50 accounts	Automatic	An afternoon

Get Started

Straight from the source

Official LibraryThing password and account links

Every fact on this page was checked against these pages. If LibraryThing changes something, they are right and we are stale, so go to them first.

Reset your LibraryThing passwordThe official password-recovery instructionsblog.librarything.com

Questions

LibraryThing password reset FAQ

How do I reset my LibraryThing password?

Open www.librarything.com/lost_something.php, enter the email on the account, follow the link you are sent, and set a new password. It usually takes a couple of minutes.

What is LibraryThing's password reset page?

www.librarything.com/lost_something.php. Go there directly rather than through a link in an email, since reset pages are widely impersonated.

Can I reset my LibraryThing password using email?

Yes. LibraryThing sends a reset link to the email address on the account.

Why isn't my LibraryThing reset email arriving?

Check spam and promotions first, then check whether you requested the reset for the address the account actually uses. Most “no email” cases are a reset sent correctly to an inbox the person no longer opens. Searching your inboxes for older mail from librarything.com tells you which account is the real one.

What should I do if my LibraryThing account was hacked?

Reset the password immediately. Then change it anywhere else you used the same password, because that is usually how they got in.

Can Repass reset my LibraryThing password for me?

Yes. Connect Gmail once and Repass walks LibraryThing's forgot-password flow itself: it requests the reset, reads only its own reset email, sets a strong 20-character password and seals it in your vault. If LibraryThing asks for a CAPTCHA or a texted code, Repass stops, shows you the page, and asks you for that one step.

Does Repass need to know my current LibraryThing password?

No, and it never asks for one. Repass uses LibraryThing's ordinary account-recovery flow to replace the password, which is why it works on accounts whose password you have already forgotten.

Is it safe to let software reset my LibraryThing password?

Repass generates and encrypts passwords on your own device, and the model that drives the reset is never shown a password, a reset link or a verification code. Those stay local to your browser. Repass does hold a key that can unwrap your vault, so that signing in is enough to open it on any device; you can revoke that key, after which your master password is the only way in.

Beyond LibraryThing