ERA Commons login association problems

Created by Julie Ward, Modified on Tue, 29 Apr at 10:05 AM by Julie Ward

The login.gov and era commons accounts need to be using the primary email address of the user, as that is the "official" microsoft account, that the 365 sign in is tied to. This allows you to sign in to the authenticator app and connect the login.gov sign in. (Aside from the problems that can arise from having different email aliases on grant applications.)

So, the first thing to do, is go to here, sign in, and get an authenticator app connected.

1. On your computer, Open a new browser and sign in to your Login.gov account at https://secure.login.gov/.

1a. On your phone, Download the microsoft authenticator app on your phone and sign in with your primary ORI email address. (any of them will actually work, but everyone already has microsoft account so its simpler this way)

1b. On your phone, Hit the + button in the upper right of the authenticator app, choose "work or school", and choose "SCAN QR CODE"... then continue on the login.gov site below

2. On your computer, Select “Enable” next to “Authentication apps” and follow the instructions to scan or enter a code associating your authentication app with your account. It will have you scan the QR code with your phone, then enter the 6 digit key that changes every 30 seconds. This will secure the login.gov account enough to allow the era commons to use it as the sign in.

3. On your computer Back on the era commons sign in page: https://public.era.nih.gov/commons/

You should then get be able to sign in with or link an era commons account. YOU MAY HAVE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD.

3a. if you get an alert about the address being associated with another email, you will need to sign in again with your ERA password to take over the association.

THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU NEED BOTH ACCOUNTS TO BE USING THE PRIMARY ORI SIGN IN

4. that should get you signed into the era commons site with a login.gov ID

Hopefully this guide should be enough to get anyone signed in should they need help. In summary: