Manage sign-in

Your Bredbox account is identified by its email address, not by the button you press to sign in. Any method that hands Bredbox the same address gets you into the same account and the same library.

Sign in with any method on the same email

Use whichever of these you like:

• Email and password
• Apple
• Google
• GitHub
• Microsoft

If they all use you@example.com, they are all the same Bredbox account. You can sign up with Google on Monday and sign in with GitHub on Friday. Nothing is duplicated, and there is no separate library to merge.

Two things follow from this:

• A different address means a different account. Signing in with a work Microsoft address and a personal Google address creates two accounts with two separate libraries. Bredbox cannot merge them.
• The provider has to confirm the address is verified. If it hands over an address it has not verified, Bredbox refuses to join it to the existing account and the sign-in page shows “An account already exists for that email address.” Verify the address with that provider, then try again.

To add email-and-password sign-in to an account you created with a social login, don’t sign up a second time. Set a password instead.

Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email

The first time you use Apple, Apple asks whether to share your email address:

• Share My Email gives Bredbox your real address. Everything above applies: your other sign-in methods on that address all reach the same account.
• Hide My Email gives Bredbox a private relay alias instead, something like a1b2c3d4@privaterelay.appleid.com. That alias becomes your Bredbox account’s email address.

Choose Share My Email if you want to use more than one sign-in method. A relay alias never matches your real address, so signing in later with Google, GitHub, Microsoft, or email and password creates a second, separate account with an empty library.

Hiding your email also means Bredbox mail goes to the alias, and only reaches you if Apple forwards it. That covers trial and subscription notices, export and import notifications, password resets, and the confirmation links needed to clear your data or delete your account.

Signing in with Apple alone is perfectly fine. It is hiding your email that limits your options later.

If you already hid your email

You are not locked out, and you can still add a password:

1. Sign in with Apple.
2. Open Settings. The address at the top of the account panel is your @privaterelay.appleid.com alias. Copy it, because that is your username for password sign-in.
3. Under Password, choose Set password. This needs no email confirmation, so it works even if mail to the alias never reaches you.

From then on you can sign in either with Apple or with that alias and your password.

Two limits still apply, because both depend on Apple delivering mail to the alias:

• Forgot password sends its reset link to the alias.
• Change email, which is how you would move the account onto your real address, requires confirming on both the old address and the new one, and the old one is the alias.

If mail to your alias doesn’t arrive, contact support and we can sort out the address for you.

Reset a forgotten password

If you use email and password:

1. Open the sign-in page.
2. Choose Forgot password?.
3. Follow the reset link in your email.
4. Set a new password.

Change or set your password

1. Open Settings (your account page).
2. Under your account details, choose Change password, or Set password, if you signed up with a social login and don’t have one yet.
3. Enter your current password (when you have one) and the new one, then save.

Setting a password on a social-login account gives you a second way in: useful if you ever lose access to the Apple, Google, GitHub, or Microsoft account.

Change your email address

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Change email and enter the new address.
3. Confirm the change from both mailboxes. Bredbox emails a link to your current address and to the new one, and the change only takes effect once you have followed both.

You need a password on the account before you can change its email address. Set one first if you signed up with a social login. And use an address you can access long term, especially if you rely on password resets or billing emails.

Changing your email also changes which other sign-in methods reach this account, since matching is by address.

Common sign-in mistakes

I know my email is right, but I still can’t sign in

A social-login account has no password until you set one, so the email-and-password form will reject it. Sign in with the provider you used, then set a password if you want that form to work too.

I signed in and my library is empty

You are probably in a second account created from a different address. Sign out and sign in with the method that uses your original email address. This is the usual outcome of picking Hide My Email with Apple and then trying another provider.

I never finished setup

Return to your verification email and finish the original setup flow first.

My password reset link expired

Request a new one and use the newest email only.

Related guides

• Create your account
• Manage your plan and data
• Common problems