Switch edu-ID Support

Switch is a non-profit Swiss foundation. The foundation board is made up of representatives of the federal government, the university cantons, Swiss universities and education policy bodies.
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The Switch edu-ID is your digital identity for lifelong learning. In particular it is for people who have a connection to Swiss universities (students, employees, guests, etc.) and national, education-related services (Swisscovery, learning platforms, etc.).
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Most Swiss universities use the Switch edu-ID for the secure authentication of students and employees.

The Switch edu-ID is user-centric, so each person should only have one account. You can use the same account for your entire academic career and store different organisational identities depending on your career, to gain access to services.
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Creating an account is very simple.

1. Go to the entry page and click on 'Create Account'.
2. Fill out the registration form using your private e-mail address.
3. Use a secure password and follow the next steps of the process.
4. You can access your account details at any time in the account management.

Important:

The Switch edu-ID is user-centric, therefore each person must only have one account. Please refrain from creating duplicates.

You manage your Switch edu-ID using the account management.
It is important that you keep your account up-to-date.

Recommendations:

• Use a valid private e-mail address as your contact e-mail.
• Add all your organisational identities.
• Keep your profile data up-to-date.
• Make sure you always have access to your account.
• Think about your account recovery options in case you lose your primary authentication.

The Switch edu-ID needs your data to ensure access to academic services. Some profile details are explained below.

• Contact e-mail:
  Your contact e-mail is the primary e-mail address in your account that we use to communicate with you. It can be configured in your account.
• Additional e-mail addresses:
  You can store multiple e-mail addresses in your account. We recommend that you save at least two independent e-mail addresses (e.g. one private and one organisation-specific e-mail). This way, you will still have access to your account after you have completed your studies.
• Organisations:
  You can link and view your organisational identities in your account, for example, if you are a student, employee or other affiliate. Thanks to organisational identities you may receive additional permissions for restricted services.

An e-mail address is deactivated if it is the only e-mail address in your account and one of the following conditions hold:

• A check has been run where the e-mail address could not be contacted.
• The e-mail address came from an organisational identity which has been removed.

In both cases, if you still know the credentials for your account, you can still log in by using the deactivated e-mail address as login name and append '.inactive'.

For example, the login name alex.taylor@example.org becomes alex.taylor@example.org.inactive. If this is the case, please immediately go to your account and add a valid private e-mail address.

If you have not used your account for a long time, you will receive an inactivity reminder. This will tell you that you should keep your account details up to date. Please check your account details in the account management or delete your account.

You will usually be informed by e-mail that a duplicate has been detected. The following page will take you to the instructions on how to merge accounts: Remove duplicate accounts.

Note:
Merging accounts is a complex process and may have an impact on your organisation or the services used. For this reason, the affected services and organisation administrators are informed about the merging of accounts, so that potential conflicts can be prevented.

For security reasons we block certain e-mail addresses or domains as well as mobile numbers and area codes. This means, we do not allow to add these addresses or numbers to accounts and don't send messages to them.
If you see that error when trying to use an e-mail address or mobile number, your input matches a pattern which is currently blocked. In this case, please try to use another e-mail address or mobile number.

You can add an organisational identity using the account management. In addition to Switch edu-ID, you may need the access information for your organisation-specific login system.

Please contact the IT support of your university. The organisational identity is managed by the universities and is usually only deactivated in the Switch edu-ID account after exmatriculation. You can only go through the process of linking your organisational identity in your account again after a review by your organisation.

Existing organisational identities are automatically removed by each university after an individual deadline. Organisational identities generally have no negative impact on your account but typically provide additional privileges.

If the organisational identity really has not been removed from your account for more than five months after you left the organisation, please ask the organisation's IT support to delete the organisational identity.

Even after you leave an organisation, you can still see your former organisational identity in the account management. However, you will no longer be granted the additional permissions for services restricted to that organisation.

A 'Stale request' error can have several different causes:

• You are using an invalid link: The login process always has to start on the service you want to access. Go to its website and click the login button to start the login process.
• You have used the back button: When you navigate back in the browser during or after your login session, this might cause an error. Please start over the login process.
• The process took too long: The login session has a time limit. If it takes too long, this can cause an error. Please start over the login process.

There are rare cases when another problem might cause this error. In all cases, please retry the login starting from the service.

If you did not see any error during the login process but in the end you are not properly directed to the service you wanted to access, please first check the link in the address bar.
If the link is starts with 'https://login.eduid.ch', something seemingly went wrong during the login process, so please try again.
If the link is from the service you are trying to access and where you've started the login, the error is on the side of the service. In that case, please contact the support of the service you wanted to access or of your organisation.

First, it is important you make sure you are really in a Switch edu-ID login process. Check if you see the Switch edu-ID Logo on your screen.
If you are not on the Switch edu-ID login, please contact the support of your organisation to get help.
If you are on the Switch edu-ID login and see such an error make sure you really use the correct credentials. The credentials for the Switch edu-ID login are not the same as the ones for your organisation login (many organisations use a Microsoft login for instance).
Otherwise, reset your password or reset your second factor if you don't remember them.

After entering the e-mail address on the edu-ID login page, clicking the 'Next' button on a Tolino 5 e-reader sometimes has no effect.
Only Tolino 5 devices are affected, older Tolino devices are not affected. Some users manage to log in after several attempts anyway. We have no solution at the moment.
It is possible that an update of the Tolino web browser will solve the problems in the future.

You can reset your password as follows:

1. Visit the page: Reset password.
2. Enter a verified e-mail address that is stored in your account.
3. You will receive a verification e-mail to the address you entered. Depending on the e-mail infrastructure, delivery may take a few minutes.
4. You can then set a new, secure password after entering the code or clicking on the link.

Possible sources of error:

• Incomplete link:
  Check the correctness of the code or the copied link from the e-mail.
• Correct e-mail address and spam folder:
  Make sure that the e-mail address you entered is an e-mail address that has been added to your account.
  Also check your spam folder.
• E-mail forwarding:
  Make sure that you have not set up forwarding for the specified e-mail address. If in doubt, please check the inbox of the e-mail account directly.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) increases the security of your account. After you have entered your e-mail address and password during login, you will be asked to enter additional security factors.
Further information about MFA can be found on the iBarry MFA page.

Setting up MFA is very simple and can be done in just a few minutes.

1. Go to your security settings.
2. Activate Multi-factor Authentication.
3. Use an authenticator app to set up the second factor.

Note: Please provide a mobile number for the case that you need to recover your account.

In case of loss or unavailability of the second factor, you must use one of the recovery methods you have configured in your account.

To do this, go to the account management and click on the link to reset the second factor during the login process. Please follow the recovery process afterwards.

MFA can also be used without a smartphone either with a software program or a hardware device that can generate a Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP).

Option using software

For this, you need a desktop application (Windows, Mac, Linux), or a browser plugin (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, ...).

1. Search for an application that supports the TOTP standard and install it on your computer.
2. Go to your edu-ID security settings and activate Multi-Factor Authentication.
3. Select Authenticator App, optionally enter a mobile number for recovery purposes and then copy the security code into your TOTP application.
4. The TOTP application will show you the time-dependent, 6-digit code that you must use in the input field and for your future logins.

Password managers that are known to work with edu-ID:

• Bitwarden
• 1Password

Option using hardware

For this, you need a programmable TOTP device on which the setup key can be programmed in the form of either a QR code or a text string.

1. Go to your edu-ID security settings and activate Multi-Factor Authentication.
2. Select Authenticator App, optionally enter a mobile number for recovery purposes. Depending on the device capabilities. Either
   • scan the QR code with the device's camera, or
   • copy the setup key into your device burner application.
3. The TOTP device will show you the time-dependent, 6-digit code that you must use in the input field and for your future logins.

Devices that are known to work with edu-ID:

• ReinerSCT Authenticator mini

Note: All product references are without guarantee. Switch is not affiliated with any product vendor.

Deactivating the second factor reduces the security of your account and is therefore not recommended. If you want to make this change nonetheless, you can deactivate Multi-factor Authentication in your security settings.

Make sure you are using the correct authenticator app and the correct code. Usually, the profile in the Authenticator App is named 'eduID.ch', 'Switch edu-ID' or 'Switch'.

Please note that many universities also require a second factor for the Microsoft account. Do not confuse the two accounts. If you no longer have access to the correct code for your Switch edu-ID account, you will need to go through the recovery process and register a new second factor.

Passkeys are an alternative method of authenticating users to a web service. Instead of a password, a cryptographic key is used, which is stored on your device. Detailed explanations are available at https://webauthn.guide.
You can use passkeys for your Switch edu-ID account by going to the security page and activate MFA. If MFA is already activated, you will see the option of adding passkeys there.

Passkeys are very secure for various reasons. First of all, a passkey prevents users from using insecure passwords, as passwords are not used at all. Furthermore, passkeys prevent phishing attacks and offer a high level of security.

The above factors can be divided into the following categories:

• 1st factor: username and password
• 2nd factor: authenticator app (app code) or SMS
• 1st and 2nd factor combined: passkeys
• Reset of 2nd factor: SMS or recovery code

When setting up MFA, a recovery code is always generated which can be used to deactivate and set up MFA again if the second factor is lost. It is also recommended to add a mobile phone number for this purpose. In the case of passkeys, a mobile phone number is required in any case. We also recommend registering several passkeys, e.g. a smartphone and a private computer.

If you synchronize your passkeys in the cloud (e.g. with iCloud, Google Password Manager or Bitwarden), then they can be restored via the cloud. Please follow the instructions of your cloud synchronization provider to regain access to your passkey.

If you do not synchronize your passkeys, a lost passkey cannot be recovered. We therefore strongly recommend registering several passkeys in your account. This way you can always access your account using one of the passkeys.

In case you lost all configured passkeys, you will need to perform an account recovery to regain access to your account.

There are many possible explanations for this:

• Only passkeys that require the user to authenticate biometrically or with a PIN are supported.
• Passkeys that have been stored locally work only in the web browser in which they were registered.
• Firefox only supports external passkeys, i.e. mobile phones and FIDO USB authenticators (status: Summer 2024).
• Some devices do not yet support passkeys.

An overview of web browsers and operating systems that support passkeys can be found at Passkeys.dev - Device Support.

We send these emails to notify you that a login happened to your Switch edu-ID account with this device or browser. Usually, they are sent when a new device is recognised, but you may also receive it for an old device, for example when you have changed your password.
You find a list of your devices in the privacy settings.

How do I know if it was me?

1. Have you recently logged in to Switch edu-ID or to a service that uses it?
   Think, for example, of an online learning platform, an administration portal, or library services.
   You may have received the notification because you accessed it.
   Generally, we send these notifications within 10 minutes. If you just logged in, then probably it's you.
2. Check the device and browser
   Do you use the type of device shown (like a Windows computer or iPhone)?
   Is it a browser you use (like Chrome or Safari)?
   If it's unfamiliar (e.g., it says Android and you only use Apple devices), it might not be you. Note, however, that occasionally it can be imprecise.
3. Check the country
   Were you in that country at the time of login?
   Sometimes, your internet provider may route your connection through another nearby country. This is normal especially when using roaming services.
   But if it shows a country you've never been to, treat that as suspicious.
4. IP address (expert)
   The IP address is mostly for technical reference. You don't need to recognise it if you do not know what it is.
   Depending on your Internet provider, it can represent your device, your connection or, if applicable, a proxy or VPN service that hides your original address.

Information on data protection and data security can be found in section 6 of the Switch edu-ID Terms of Use.

As a Swiss non-profit foundation, data protection and transparency are very important to us. Your personal data that is stored about you can be downloaded in the account management.

When you access a service, you will always be asked for your consent to share your data the first time you access it.

You can revoke your consent to share data with services at any time in the account management. This means that no more data will be transmitted to the selected service in the future without your consent being obtained again. The deletion already transmitted data must be requested directly by the respective service operators.

You should only delete your account in exceptional cases (e.g. duplicate accounts), as the Switch edu-ID account also offers you access to education-related services after your studies (e.g. as a library vistor or for alumni services).

If you still decide to delete your account, you can do so in the account management.

Important:
As long as you belong to an organisation, we cannot delete your account. Please contact your organisation to delete your organisational identity or to be exmatriculated.

The Switch edu-ID uses cookies to enable secure and persistent single sign-on (SSO) sessions and temporary settings. Deleting cookies resets all Switch edu-ID sessions and deletes all temporary settings in your current browser.