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Password reset guide · Social

How to reset your WeChat password

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

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

At a glance

WeChat password reset, in one table

Verified facts about resetting a WeChat password
Reset by emailYes
Reset by phoneYes
Old password requiredNo
Works with RepassYes

Checked against WeChat's own documentation. Sources.

The manual way

Reset your WeChat password in 5 steps

  1. Open WeChat's password reset page

    Go straight to cs.help.wechat.com/hc/en-us/articles/11511329182095-Reset-Account-Password-through-friend-assistance. 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 WeChat'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 cs.help.wechat.com/hc/en-us/articles/11511329182095-Reset-Account-Password-through-friend-assistance before you type anything.

  2. Enter the email or phone number on the account

    Type the email address or the phone number the account uses, and pick which one you still have access to. If you are not certain which address that is, search every inbox you own for old mail from wechat.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.

  3. Open what you are sent and follow it

    WeChat sends a reset message to the email or phone number on the account. Depending on the route and the device, that is either a link to follow or a short code to type. Do whichever it turns out to be.

    Either way it is short-lived and single-use. If you leave it for an hour, expect to request a fresh one rather than to be told why the old one stopped working, and check spam before assuming nothing was sent.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 WeChat.

  1. Finding your WeChat account
  2. Opening password recovery
  3. Waiting for the reset email
  4. Reset email found
  5. Generating a 20-character password
  6. Sealing it in your vault

You never give Repass your current WeChat password. It uses WeChat'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.

Pick a route

Which WeChat 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. WeChat sends a message there and you are done in a couple of minutes. This is also the only route Repass can drive for you.

You have the phone, not the email

Use the phone route. WeChat texts a code to the number on the account.

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 WeChat?

Previously linked accounts automatically unlink after password reset

After using the new password to log in, all previously linked accounts are automatically unlinked and must be re-linked. Source

Recovery SMS expires if deleted

If a user accidentally deletes the SMS containing the new password after a successful recovery, they must repeat the recovery process entirely. Source

Recovery takes up to 24 hours

After submitting account recovery information, users receive an SMS within 24 hours with the approval result. 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 WeChat 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 WeChat 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 WeChat by hand

Step Repass By hand
Find the right account AutomaticYou
Open the reset flow AutomaticYou
Search the inbox AutomaticYou
Open the reset link AutomaticYou
Generate a strong password AutomaticYou
Save it somewhere safe AutomaticYou
CAPTCHAYou approveYou
Texted codeYou approveYou
Repeat for 50 accounts AutomaticAn afternoon

Straight from the source

Official WeChat password and account links

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

Questions

WeChat password reset FAQ

How do I reset my WeChat password?

Open cs.help.wechat.com/hc/en-us/articles/11511329182095-Reset-Account-Password-through-friend-assistance, enter the email or phone number on the account, follow the link you are sent, and set a new password. It usually takes a couple of minutes.

What is WeChat's password reset page?

cs.help.wechat.com/hc/en-us/articles/11511329182095-Reset-Account-Password-through-friend-assistance. Go there directly rather than through a link in an email, since reset pages are widely impersonated.

Can I reset my WeChat password using email?

Yes. WeChat sends a reset message to the email address on the account.

Can I reset my WeChat password using my phone number?

Yes, if the number is on the account. WeChat sends a message by text.

Can I reset my WeChat password without knowing the old one?

Yes. The reset flow exists for exactly that case: it verifies you through the email or phone number on the account instead of through the password you have forgotten.

Why isn't my WeChat 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 wechat.com tells you which account is the real one.

What should I do if my WeChat 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 WeChat password for me?

Yes. Connect Gmail once and Repass walks WeChat'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 WeChat 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 WeChat password?

No, and it never asks for one. Repass uses WeChat'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 WeChat 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 WeChat

What else Repass does

Find accounts connected to your email

Every service you ever signed up for sent you an email. Repass reads those to build the list, so you find out about the 2016 forum account before somebody else does.

Reset reused passwords

Reuse is the single thing that turns somebody else's security failure into your problem. Repass replaces them in bulk instead of one painful evening at a time.

Reset compromised passwords

Rotating an exposed password matters more than rotating an old one. Repass does the rotation, on every account that needs it.

Generate strong passwords

The passwords Repass sets are made locally and never leave your machine in a form anyone else can read.

Store passwords securely

Your vault is sealed on your device, and what our servers store is ciphertext. Repass does hold a key that can unwrap it, so signing in opens your vault with nothing to type; revoke that key and your master password becomes the only way in.

Change passwords automatically

Repass drives each site's real forgot-password flow in your own browser, and stops to ask when a site wants a human.

Two minutes from now

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