What should I do if I forget my password?

If you attempt to log in but cannot remember your password, click on the "Forgot your password?" twistie on the log in prompt, and follow the instructions provided by your organization to reset your password.


What should I do when my password does not work and I cannot log in?

If you are online and your password does not allow you to log in, then the password you entered does not match the password associated with your local ID or your vault password. In this case, you may have incorrectly remembered your password. Click on the "Forgot your password?" twistie on the log in prompt, and follow the instructions provided by your organization to reset your password.

If you are offline and your password does not work, and you recently changed your password on another computer, your local ID may not have resynchronized with the ID vault yet. If you are unable to go online, try using your old password. Or go online and try logging in using your new password again. If you are still unable to log in, click on the "Forgot your password?" on the log in prompt, and follow the instructions provided by your organization to reset your password. You may need to be online to reset your password, depending on your organization's instructions.


I changed my password on one computer and cannot use the new password on my second computer. What's wrong?

1. Make sure you are using Release 8.5 or later Notes Clients on both computers. Pre-8.5 Notes Clients cannot take advantage of the features provided by the ID vault. If you are using an older version and want to take advantage of the ID vault, you must upgrade.

2. Were you online when you changed your password? You need to be online in order for the new password change to be reflected in the ID vault. If you are offline, your password change will be reflected in the ID vault later on when you are online.

3. Were you online on your second computer when attempting to use the new password? Your computer will need to be able to contact the ID vault in order to use the new password. Otherwise, if you are offline, you will need to log in with your old password, and log in with your new password at a later time when online.

4. Make sure both computers have the ID vault policy applied locally. To verify that the ID vault policy has been applied, select "File - Security - User Security - Security Basics tab." If your ID has been backed up to an ID vault, the last setting under "Your Login and Password Settings" will indicate that your "ID file has been backed up into vault ___." To download the policy, you need to connect with your home server, which is defined in your location document. Verify that the home/mail server specified in the location document is correct. (It is specified by your administrator in your entry in the server address book on the Basics tab under "Mail Server," and is the mail server you normally connect to in order to access your mail.)


What should I do if I lose my machine or hard drive?

If you lose your machine or hard drive, your ID file is not lost. You can obtain a copy of your ID file from the ID vault. When you set up Lotus Notes with your new hard drive/machine, enter your name and home server as usual. You will then be prompted for your password. (You will not be asked to supply an ID file.) Your ID file will be automatically retrieved and saved on your local machine.

If your organization requires authorization for ID file downloads, the Notes client will display a message from your administrator when attempting to download the ID file.  Follow the instructions displayed so that you may obtain approval to download your ID file.


What should I do if I get a new computer?

If you are getting rid of your old computer, and have recently made changes to your ID file while offline, (such as added an internet certificate or secret key, or changed your password,) force a resynchronization of your local ID file on your old machine with the ID vault by switching to the same ID while online. You can switch ID by using the menu option "File - Security - Switch ID." This ensures that the ID vault contains the most up-to-date contents of your local ID file.

Setup for Lotus Notes with the ID vault on your new computer is the same as the normal Lotus Notes setup process. During the setup process, enter your name and home server as usual. When prompted, enter your password. (You will not be asked to supply an ID file.) Your ID file will be automatically retrieved and saved on your local machine.

If your organization requires authorization for ID file downloads, the Notes client will display a message from your administrator when attempting to download the ID file.  Follow the instructions displayed so that you may obtain approval to download your ID file. To avoid the step of downloading your ID file, you can instead copy your ID file from your old computer to your new computer and use that ID file during Notes setup.


I accidentally deleted my ID file. What do I do?

Log into Notes as usual. As long as you are online when you enter your password, your ID file will be automatically downloaded from the ID vault and saved on your computer in the same place with the same name. You will not even notice that the ID file was missing.

If your organization requires authorization for ID file downloads, the Notes client will display a message from your administrator when attempting to download the ID file.  Follow the instructions displayed so that you may obtain approval to download your ID file.


My local log (or the server log) contains ID vault error messages. What do they mean?

See the Logging FAQ.


I created new document encryption keys on my computer at work. When using my home computer, I cannot find the keys. What's wrong?

1. Make sure you are using Release 8.5 or later Notes Clients on both computers.

Pre-8.5 Notes Clients cannot take advantage of the features provided by the ID vault. If you are using an older version, you may want to upgrade. If upgrading is not preferable, you will need to either mail the keys to yourself, or copy over your ID file with the keys.

2. Make sure your new keys have been copied from your work computer to the ID vault. On your work computer, switch ID to yourself while online.

Your work computer may not have resynchronized with the ID vault yet, and so your vaulted ID file does not contain the keys.
One reason you may be in this situation is that you were offline when you created the keys. Resynchronization will eventually take place as you use Notes on your work/home computer. If you would like to use the keys immediately, log into Notes on your work computer while online and force a resynchronization by doing a switch ID to the same ID.  You can switch ID by using the menu option "File - Security - Switch ID."

Another reason you may be in this situation is that you recently changed your password and had logged into your work computer using your old Notes password before creating the keys. Consequently, your local ID file was not able to resynchronize with the ID vault. If this is the case, change your Notes password on your work computer to match your new password. Your ID file on your work computer will automatically resynchronize with the ID vault.

3. Make sure your new keys were copied from the ID vault to your local ID file. While online, log into Notes with the same password you use at work. Then switch ID to yourself.

Your home computer may not have resynchronized with the vault yet, either because synchronization polling (which may take up to two days) has not occurred or the password you used does not match the one you used at work.To force a resynchronization with the vault, switch ID to the same ID on your home computer while online. You can switch ID by using the menu option "File - Security - Switch ID." Then, see if the keys are available.