# Keep a backup way to sign in

Add a backup sign-in email, so you can still open your dashboard if Twitch sign-in isn’t working.

Updated 24 September 2026

## What a backup email is for

If you ever can’t sign in with Twitch, a backup sign-in email gets you back into your dashboard. It’s optional, and only an address you’ve confirmed can sign you in. It doesn’t create a new account: it signs you in to the one you already have.

## Before you start

- You need to be able to sign in with Twitch once, to add the address.
- Use an inbox you’ll still have if something happens to your Twitch account. It doesn’t have to be the address Twitch uses.
- Each address can be the backup for one account only.

## Add a backup email

1. In your dashboard, choose **Account** at the bottom of the sidebar, under your name.
2. Under **Backup sign-in email**, type the address. If Twitch shared your email when you signed in, the field may already hold it; change it if you like.
3. Choose **Save and send confirmation**. The card now shows the address as **Waiting for you to confirm**.
4. Open the email we send and choose **Confirm this address**, then **Confirm** on the page that opens. The link expires in 24 hours.

The page says **Backup email confirmed**, and **Account** now shows the address as **Confirmed**. From now on the save button reads **Change address**.

![The Backup sign-in email card on the Account page: streamer@example.com marked Confirmed, the same address in the Backup sign-in email field, a Change address button, a Remove backup email button, and a line saying to use Sign in with email instead on the sign-in page, which works only once the address is confirmed.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/backup-email-account.jpg)

_A confirmed backup sign-in email on the Account page._

## Sign in with email

1. On the sign-in page, choose **Can’t use Twitch? Sign in with email instead**.
2. Enter your backup email and choose **Email me a sign-in link**. The next page says **Check your inbox**.
3. Open the email and choose **Sign in**, then **Continue** on the page that opens.

You land on your dashboard, the same as a Twitch sign-in. Each link works once and expires in 15 minutes.

![The Sign in with email page: a line asking for your backup sign-in email, the Backup sign-in email field holding streamer@example.com, an Email me a sign-in link button, and a note that only an address you have already confirmed under Account can sign you in.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/backup-email-signin.jpg)

_The Sign in with email page, reached from the sign-in page._

![The page a sign-in link opens, headed Sign in to your dashboard, with the line Press Continue to finish signing in above a Continue button.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/backup-email-continue.jpg)

_The page a sign-in link opens. Nothing happens until you press Continue._

> **The same page for every address**
>
> For your safety, **Check your inbox** appears whatever address you type, so the page never reveals which addresses have an account. Only a confirmed backup email actually receives a link.

## What works while Twitch is unavailable

Signing in by email opens your dashboard, so you can change flows, widgets and settings. It doesn’t reconnect Twitch. Anything that needs your Twitch connection — chat messages, alerts for Twitch events, channel point rewards — waits until that connection works again. When Twitch is back, open **Links**, review your Twitch status and follow a re-authorisation prompt if one is shown.

## Change or remove the address

On **Account**, type a different address and choose **Change address**. We send a confirmation email to the new address, and the card shows **Waiting to confirm** with the new address under your current one. Your current address keeps signing you in until you choose **Confirm this address** in the new email. Once you do, the new address takes over, the old one stops working and gets a notice saying so, and any sign-in link sent to the old address stops working. To keep your current address instead, save it again.

To stop using a backup email, choose **Remove backup email**. A confirmed address gets a notice that it was removed. Either way, any sign-in link you already had stops working.

Choosing **Unlink Twitch** on your channel’s **Links** page also removes your channel’s backup sign-in email.

## If something goes wrong

- **No email arrived.** Check your spam folder, wait a minute and ask again. For your safety you can request three sign-in links an hour for one address.
- **“This link has expired or was already used.”** Choose **Send a new link**. Links work once, for a short time, and asking for a new one replaces the old one.
- **The link opened on another device.** That’s fine: press **Continue** there, or ask for a new link on the device you want to use.
- **“That address is already used for another account.”** Each address can be the backup for one account. Use a different one.
- **“You’ve changed this a few times already.”** You can save a backup email five times an hour. Try again later.
- **Account says “Backup sign-in isn’t available on your channel yet”, or the sign-in page has no email option.** Backup sign-in may not be available on your channel yet. Sign in with Twitch as usual.