DreamHost Email Login Failing? You No Longer Need to Wait for the Reset Notice
After DreamHost’s precautionary reset, webmail and your desktop mail app both reject the old password, and no reset email has arrived. Who can set a new one, and how?
- Owners of affected accounts can replace passwords without waiting for the notification email.
- Mail and SFTP credentials have separate controls; users without panel access need the account owner.
- Allow the new credentials to take effect, then update saved passwords in the relevant clients.
The account owner can act now
For email and FTP/SFTP users affected by DreamHost’s precautionary reset, the owner can now set replacement passwords. The incident update at 10:37 a.m. PDT on October 24 said the reset was complete. That supersedes the earlier instruction to wait for an email.
The incident can make the old password fail in desktop and mobile mail apps as well as webmail. As checked on October 26 KST, DreamHost’s guidance was to allow up to 15 minutes for a new password to become effective.
Use the controls for the affected service
For a mailbox, open Mail → Manage Email in the panel, choose Manage beside the address, enter a new value under Change Password, and select Save Changes. The mail-user guide says Webmail itself cannot change the password.
The separate Mailboxes interface requires the current password. A user locked out of a mailbox and without panel access should contact the hosting account owner.
| User type | Panel route |
|---|---|
| Mailbox | Mail → Manage Email → Manage → Change Password |
| SFTP or Shell user | Websites → SFTP Users & Files → Login info → Change password |
For a file-access user, finish with Reset Password. The website-user instructions concern access to server files; these credentials are distinct from a WordPress administrator login.
Update the clients that still have the old password
After allowing time for the change, replace saved credentials in the mail or SFTP client. Avoid repeatedly retrying the old password: DreamHost’s email configuration guide says repeated failed logins can temporarily block an IP address.
Check both incoming and outgoing authentication in a mail app. DreamHost lists imap.dreamhost.com for IMAP and smtp.dreamhost.com for sending. Testing incoming and outgoing mail separately helps identify which connection still fails.
The password troubleshooting guide also recommends clearing the browser cache if a web login still fails after the update window. Consult the live status page for continuing service disruption; completing a password reset is not an all-clear for the incident.
Panel access is a separate recovery problem
DreamHost gives panel, mail and website users separate passwords. Replacing the panel password does not replace every mailbox and file-access password.
If the owner cannot sign in, follow DreamHost’s account-recovery instructions. A known account email can be used for a panel-password reset. If the owner has lost access to that email or cannot identify it, the support form offers “I can't log in to my DreamHost account.”
Enter panel.dreamhost.com directly in the browser to make changes. DreamHost says its incident notification will not ask users to log in through an email link.