Why am I required to confirm my email address?

Beginning March 17th, 2025, all new iNaturalist accounts are required to confirm their email address before they can interact with content created by other users. All new accounts are sent a confirmation email with a link to click on when the account is created. It should take less than a minute to confirm an email address.

New accounts with unconfirmed email addresses are still able to make their own observations, join projects, write journal posts, and interact with others on their own content without confirming their email address. Someone creating an account at a bioblitz, for example, will have no barriers to making observations or joining the bioblitz project. 

Any new account with an unconfirmed email address will be prompted to confirm their email address when they attempt to interact with other users’ content on the iNaturalist website, such as adding an identification or comment to an observation, and will be sent an email with a confirmation link to click.

Why are we doing this?

We hope this requirement will make it more difficult for those with malicious intent to negatively affect the iNaturalist experience for others, while keeping the barrier to interaction low for those who want to genuinely participate.

If you’re unable to confirm your email address, please submit a ticket to iNaturalist Support or email help@inaturalist.org.