Amazon One-Time Password Not Arriving: What to Do

Amazon sends codes to the contact on file

Amazon sends the code to the mobile number or email stored in your account, not to any number you happen to hold now. Old numbers and retired email addresses are a common reason codes seem to vanish.

Open Your Account, then Login and security, to see which contacts are saved. If you can still sign in, update them there. If you cannot, use the recovery routes further down.

Phone checks for a missing text

A missing Amazon text usually comes from poor signal, a full inbox or a carrier filter on automated senders. Turn airplane mode off, restart the phone and check the blocked or spam list in your messages app.

Roaming and prepaid plans sometimes hold back automated texts. Dual-SIM phones may also receive on a different SIM than the one you typed, so check both lines.

Email codes and other delivery options

If the SMS fails, look at the options on the Amazon screen, because it can offer email or a different method for the same code. Check the spam and promotions folders for mail from Amazon and confirm the spelling of your address.

Two-step verification also supports an authenticator app and backup methods. Fire TV and other devices use the same contacts, so a code that fails there fails for the same reason as on your phone.

Codes that Amazon calls not valid

Amazon rejects a code that has expired, contains a typo or comes from an earlier request. Request a new code, wait for the message and enter the newest one with no spaces.

Make sure the screen still belongs to the same sign-in attempt. Entering wrong codes many times can lock the form for a while, so stop and wait if the page says so.

Outages, limits and the question of an Amazon glitch

If every method fails on every device, a temporary Amazon problem is possible, and waiting is the right response. You cannot confirm an outage from our side, so test another network, another device and another delivery method before blaming Amazon.

Repeated requests also trigger pauses that look like an outage. Stop sending requests, wait, and try once more later.

When another number helps

A different number helps only when Amazon allows you to add it, for example on a new test account or when you update the contact in settings. For a throwaway account, take a line from the Amazon number page and watch the shared inbox for the SMS.

Never attach a public line to an account with payment methods. A private number receives codes only for you and fits that case.

If nothing works: account recovery

If you cannot receive any code, start recovery from the sign-in help link and contact Amazon customer service. Amazon's help pages on recovering an account after two-step verification fails describe backup methods and identity checks, so be ready to prove ownership.

To keep a phone number off the account in future, see Amazon without a phone number. Official support comes from Amazon only, and anyone offering paid recovery should be ignored.

Fix a missing Amazon code in order

1. Find the contact on fileOpen Login and security and read which number and email the account holds.
2. Check the phoneTurn off airplane mode, restart and look in spam filters and the second SIM.
3. Wait and resend onceGive the text a few minutes, request one new code and use the newest.
4. Use a backup methodTry email, an authenticator app or another option shown on the screen.
5. Contact AmazonStart account recovery or call customer service if no method works.