Discord authentication

I have worked in the tech industry for the past 20 years and I have never come across a service with a user log-in authentication system as utterly broken as Discord. I have been trying to log in for weeks now without success.

Let me show you the exact steps I’m taking, with excruciating care to make sure I do everything by the book, and to demonstrate that it still fails to get past Discord’s broken algorithm.

Normal log-in at Discord

Step 1: I go to

I go to https://discord.com/login

I enter my US-based mobile phone #

I choose forgot password because I forgot to write it down when I registered in April.

Step 2: It takes me to the “Something is going on here” screen.

“We will need you to verify your account.” I click it.

Step 3: I’m taken to https://discord.com/channels/@me

It asks me to verify by email. I enter [email protected] into the email field. I get the error message “Email is already registered.”

Well, of course it is. You just asked me to enter my registered email address. What the hell, Discord?

OK, let’s try again.

Workaround #1

I abandon the desktop and go to mobile. In the Discord app, I try to log in unsuccessfully. I choose to reset my password. Before it will reset the password, Discord sends me a security code by text.

I enter it into my iPhone. So far, so good. This is how two-step authentication is supposed to work.

At first blush, it accepted the code. But then I try to log in to Discord with my mobile number and the password that I just successfully changed. For any Web platform, two-step authentication should be enough, but not for Discord! Instead, I’m met with this nonsensical screen.

What? Why are you asking for my email address? I’ve probably registered three email accounts with Discord over the years but — here’s the key — I only have one mobile number. Which I just proved to you I own.

I enter the email address I think I may have used. I get the error “Email is already registered.”

Yes. By me.

I try Discord Support

A helpful Discord support staffer responds to my travails with these suggestions:

1. Open an incognito browser window. (DONE)
2. Enter your phone number instead of your email (DONE)
3. Click ‘Forgot Password’ (DONE)
4. Follow the link in SMS to reset the password. (DONE, successfully entered the security code)
5. Log into the account

I can’t. For some reason, the system always throws up the “Something’s going on here” screen at this step of the process.  There’s no reason it should be doing that.

Something is going on here? Yes, I’m trying to log into my own account, and I just verified that I own it!

I respond to Discord Support and get this response:

You’ll need to first login to the original Discord account tied to the phone number on the desktop app, or the browser on your computer or mobile device.

>Then, head into User Settings (by clicking on the cog icon in the bottom left), and then remove the phone number currently in the My Account tab!

But: I’m not able to log into the original Discord account. That’s the whole point of this support ticket.

Let’s try a new account!

A friend suggested I ditch my existing Discord account and start fresh with a new email and phone number. Fine.

I register to get a free voicemail number with Google Voice. But apparently it doesn’t support text. Back to square one.

I download the TextNow app.

OK, awesome. I get a new local mobile number and test it, verifying that I can send and receive texts.

I go to register a new account on Discord. First, it sends me a verification code. For that, TextNow charges a $4.99 annual subscription. OK, fine, I pay it. I enter the verification code.

Discord gives an error message: “Please use a valid mobile phone number, not a VOIP or landline number.”

I try one last time on my iPhone to log in with a second email address and the password I just changed it to, and I get this:

Which is odd, because I only have one phone and one computer.

So, I will try Discord Support for the third time. All the kids in crypto seem to love Discord, which is the only reason I’ll keep trying to get in so I can accept the dozens of Discord invitations I’ve received over the weeks.

Something’s Going on Here, all right.

I’ll update this post when someone at Discord solves the issue.

Update: After a third set of back-and-forths wtih the good folks at Discord Support, they reset my phone number, I ditched my old accounts and started a new account with one of my free email addresses … and added my mobile number to it. A two-minute automated process should not have taken weeks.