The Twitter domain is officially being retired. Here’s what to do to make sure your account doesn’t get locked

It’s official: Twitter.com is about to bite the dust forever. 

According to a series of tweets from X’s @Safety account, posted between October 24 and October 25, the social media platform plans to finally retire the Twitter domain on November 10. Currently, searching for Twitter.com still leads directly to X, but soon, that will no longer be an option. 

The domain’s phase-out comes more than two years after Twitter owner Elon Musk renamed the platform X in July 2023, much to the dismay of many loyal users.

At the time, critics argued that the rebrand was destined to fail, with some going so far as to call it “brand suicide.”

And while many former users have indeed jumped ship to competing platforms like Threads and Bluesky in the years since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022, it looks like the new name is here to stay. 

The announcement that Twitter will soon disappear into the annals of internet history came subtly buried in a message from X’s @Safety account that, due to the domain’s retirement, users who rely on certain two-factor authentication (2FA) methods will need to update their log-ins before November 10.

Here’s what you need to know about the notice:

How to make sure your X account doesn’t get locked

According to an initial post from @Safety, all X accounts that use a security key as their 2FA method will need to re-enroll their key in order to keep accessing X after November 10. 

Per a second post, a “security key” does not refer to users who rely on an authenticator app to log into X.

Instead, this notice only pertains to anyone using a physical security key (like a Yubikey), or a passkey, which is an encrypted, passwordless log-in option that typically requires users to enter a face scan or fingerprint scan.

These methods are typically used to keep accounts safer, since they make it more difficult for hackers to access passwords and log into accounts remotely.

If you use a security key or passkey to log into X, here’s what you can do before November 10 to avoid locking your account:

1. Open your account and navigate to Settings. 
2. Select “Security and account access,” then click “Security” and open the “Two-factor authentication” section.
3. Click the “Add another key” option and follow the steps to create a new security key or passkey that’s linked to the “x.com” domain rather than the former “Twitter.com” domain.

Per the @Safety post, “After November 10, if you haven’t re-enrolled a security key, your account will be locked until you: re-enroll; choose a different 2FA method; or elect not to use 2FA (but we always recommend you use 2FA to protect your account!)”

X did not immediately respond to Fast Company’s request for comment on what other steps it’s taking to ensure that the Twitter retirement process proceeds smoothly.

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