I can't sign in to Cradle

Cradle doesn't manage passwords or two-factor — your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 work account does. That means most sign-in failures get fixed in Google or Microsoft, not in Cradle. Work through these in order.

Quick checks (try these first)

Confirm your Cradle admin has invited you. If you've never received an invitation email, no amount of password fiddling will help. Ask whoever runs Cradle at your organisation to add you.
Confirm you're using the same work account that was invited. Personal Gmail and personal Microsoft accounts don't work — Cradle requires a work account.
Check status.cradle.io. If Cradle itself is having a bad day, the page will say so.

Most common cause: your Google or Microsoft account

If your work email password doesn't work in a browser at mail.google.com or outlook.office.com, the problem isn't in Cradle. Fix the account first, then come back to Cradle.

Google Workspace. Go to accounts.google.com and use Forgot password or Can't access your account. If your IT team manages Google Workspace for your organisation, they may need to reset it for you.
Microsoft 365. Go to account.microsoft.com or login.microsoftonline.com and use Can't access your account. If your organisation uses single sign-on, your IT team is the right first stop.

Once you can sign in to your work email in a browser, open Cradle again. It should let you straight in.

Less common: cached credentials on this computer

If your work password works in a browser but Cradle still won't sign you in — or it signs you in and then loops you back to the welcome screen — the local credential cache may be stale.

The fix is platform-specific. See What do I do if Cradle won't log in? for the keychain (macOS) or Credential Manager (Windows) steps.

Enterprise SSO

Your IT admin manages your work account. If sign-in started failing right after one of these, ask your IT admin before changing anything in Cradle:

A password reset.
A multi-factor authentication change (new device, recovery codes used, MFA reset).
A device-trust or conditional-access policy change.
A change of role, team, or licence in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.

"User is not authorised"

This one is different. It means Cradle recognises your work account but your Cradle admin has removed you from the organisation, or your licence has been pulled.

Ask your Cradle admin to re-add you, then sign in again. If you also need to clear the desktop app's stored credentials before signing in as a different account, see Signing out and switching accounts.

Still stuck?

If you've worked through everything above and still can't get in, email help@cradle.io. Include:

The work email address you're trying to sign in with.
Whether you can sign in to that email in a browser.
The exact wording of any error message Cradle shows.

Cradle support is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm New Zealand time.