When sign-in will not let you through

Sign-in fails for a handful of reasons, and they look alike from the outside — each one ends with you not signed in. The difference is where the message appears, so read that first.

Start with the message

Where the message is	What it means
Under the username and password fields	The username or the password is wrong
On the code screen	The code is wrong, or it has expired
Above the form, after the Microsoft page sends you back	Microsoft sign-in isn't set up for this account yet, or the Microsoft page used a different account
A message in the top-right corner	Read it: a detail that didn't match (Client code, birth date, username), or a problem on our end

Work through these in order

1. Check the username, not just the password. It is not necessarily your email address. Look it up with your birth date and Social Security Number rather than guessing. A wrong username gives exactly the same message as a wrong password.
2. Reset the password if the username is right. That is a few screens and an email.
3. Check you have an account at all. If you have never signed in, you do not have a password yet — you have a Client ID and a Client code, and the first step is registering.
4. If your company uses Microsoft, use Log in with Microsoft. If you are told Microsoft sign-in isn't set up yet, sign in with your username and password and turn it on under My profile → Microsoft 365 sign-in. Also check that the Microsoft page has your work account selected, not a personal one.
5. If the code is refused, request a new code by email or text message, or check you are reading the C2Connection entry in your authenticator app. If you are sent back to the sign-in form, the code step timed out — sign in again. See your verification code.

When it is the browser rather than the credentials

A different shape of failure: the sign-in works, and then the app itself breaks — a page that will not load, a screen that shows an error, or a sign-in that loops straight back to where it started. That is usually something this browser has kept from an earlier session rather than anything about your account.

Reset app clears it. It is in the menu under your name, and it is on the error screen itself when a page has crashed. It signs you out, clears the cookies and everything C2Connection has saved in this browser, and returns you to sign-in. From the menu it asks you to confirm first.

It is safe: nothing of yours lives only in the browser. You will have to sign in again, and any half-finished form on screen is lost — so finish or abandon whatever is open first.

An error screen also carries Report error, which opens the IT support form already filled in with which page crashed and the error's reference. Sending that is more useful than describing it afterwards, and the reference is printed at the foot of the screen if you would rather quote it yourself.

The ones you cannot fix yourself

Some failures are records rather than credentials, and no amount of retrying moves them. Ask your company's HR or C2 contact if:

• registration says your Client code is not valid, and a fresh email does not help;
• looking up your username says no account found even though your birth date and Social Security Number are right — the record may hold something different from what you were told;
• the only email address or phone number your account offers for a code is one you cannot reach;
• your profile is shown as Inactive when you choose a profile, and you believe it should not be.