PingID End User Guide

FAQs and best practices

Ping Identity can’t help you with issues related to signing on to a third-party site or app. You must contact the third-party directly.
My mobile device is lost or stolen

If your device is lost or stolen, you must unpair PingID mobile app before pairing it to another device. Unpairing PingID also ensures no one else can use it to access to your account. For security reasons, you should also report the event to your IT department.

  1. Unpair PingID mobile app from your old device:

    • If you have another authentication method paired with your account you can do this yourself:

      1. Sign on to your account using the alternative authentication method or use a backup device.

      2. On your My Devices page, aunpair PingID mobile app.

    • If PingID mobile app is your only authentication method, you must to contact the organization to which PingID is paired and ask them to unpair it for you.

      Ping Identity can’t unpair your device.

      Only the organization to which you paired PingID mobile app can unpair your device.

  2. After you unpair PingID mobile app successfully, download PingID mobile app to your new device and pair it to your account again.

    Learn more about pairing PingID in Pairing PingID mobile app.

If you have third-party sites or apps paired with PingID mobile app, you’ll need to contact the third-party site to help you unpair and re-pair the third-party account with PingID.
Why do you recommend adding a second authentication method?

It’s strongly recommended to add at least one more authentication method, so you are never locked out of your account if your mobile device is lost, stolen, or unavailable. Having a second authentication method, such as the PingID desktop app, or a security key also allows you to sign in and unpair your old device yourself, without needing to contact your organization’s support team.

How do I move PingID mobile app to a new mobile device?

  • If you still have your old device: You can move PingID mobile app to your new device from the app without having to pair again. All organization accounts are moved automatically.

    Learn more in Moving PingID mobile app authentication to a new device (change device).

  • If your your old device is lost, broken, or stolen: You’ll need to manually unpair PingID from your old device and then pair it again on your new device.

    • If you have a different device paired with PingID, use it to authenticate, go to your My Devices page, and unpair PingID mobile app there.

    • If you don’t have any other devices, you’ll need to contact your organization’s support team to unpair the app for you.

      Learn more in Handling a lost, broken, or stolen device situation.

When moving PingID mobile app to a new device, for security reasons, your third-party accounts and your Creds won’t be transferred to your new device.
How do I move my third-party accounts to a new device?

If you move PingID mobile app to a new device, your third-party accounts won’t be transferred to your new device.

You’ll need to unpair each account from your old device and re-pair each third-party account individually with PingID mobile app on your new device.

If your old device is lost, broken, or stolen, contact the third-party organization for instructions of how to unpair their account from PingID mobile app when your old device is unavailable. After you’ve unpaired the account from your old device, you can pair it again on your new device. Learn more in Pairing PingID mobile app as an authenticator app

Why can’t I pair PingID mobile app on my new device?

  • If PingID mobile app is paired to another device, you won’t be able to pair it on your new device until you unpair it from your old device.

    Learn more in (Legacy) Unpairing a device.

  • If your old device is unavailable, you’ll need to contact the organization to which PingID is paired and ask them to unpair it for you. Learn more in Handling a lost, broken, or stolen device situation.

What’s the difference between an organization account and a third-party account?

You can add all your accounts that need an extra layer of security with multi-factor authentication (MFA) to the PingID mobile app. These accounts fall into two main categories: organization accounts and third-party accounts. The main difference between them is who manages them and who you need to contact for help:

  • Organization accounts: These accounts give you secure access to your organization’s resources. Organization accounts are:

    • Managed by your organization: Your IT department or administrator manages these accounts. They define which authentication methods you can add and what you can access.

    • Simple account recovery: If you lose your phone, your administrator can help you unpair PingID mobile app from your old device and move it to a new device.

    • Easy to identify: Your organization accounts are indicated by an office icon (Image showing an office icon) on the Authentication tab.

  • Third-party accounts: These are the personal accounts for external apps or websites (such as Gmail, Facebook, Jira, or PayPal). Unlike your organization accounts, these accounts are:

    • Managed by you: You are responsible for managing your third-party accounts. Ping Identity has no control over your third-party accounts.

    • Not recoverable by your organization or Ping Identity If you lose your phone, you must use the backup codes or recovery options provided by the third-party itself. Neither Ping Identity nor your organization administrator can help you to recover them.

    • Not automatically moved to a new device: If you move PingID mobile app to a new device, your third-party accounts are not automatically moved. You’ll need to unpair them from the old device and then pair them again on the new device.