How do you set up GOV.UK One Login in the United Kingdom in 2026?

Start from the government service that asks for One Login, or create it at the official sign-in page. You need an email address you can open every day and a way to receive security codes: a UK mobile number or an authenticator app. Choose a password you do not reuse for banking or email.

Keep control of that email and phone yourself. Anyone helping you can explain screens, but they must not enter your password, security codes, or set a passkey on their own device. You can later change email, password, or code method from the same account.

Some services only need the login. Others ask you to prove who you are once, then reuse that check. The main routes are the GOV.UK One Login app (scan photo ID and your face), security questions online, or a Post Office in-branch check after you enter ID details online.

Accepted photo ID in the app includes a UK photocard driving licence, UK passport, biometric non-UK passport, biometric residence permit (BRP), biometric residence card (BRC), or Frontier Worker permit. Start on the website of the service you need; the site sends you to the app at the right moment. Return to the browser tab to finish.

HMRC is moving customers onto One Login in stages. New users without older Government Gateway details are often asked first. Do not create a One Login for tax until the HMRC journey prompts you, then follow only the official options shown.

One Login is not your UK Visas and Immigration account. To view an eVisa, generate share codes, or update passport details, you still use the separate UKVI login described in set up a UK eVisa. Treat immigration and One Login as two vaults with different recovery paths.

Tax tasks that move onto One Login still sit beside payroll and National Insurance work. After you get a National Insurance number, keep payslip and Personal Tax Account details aligned with the same legal name you used for identity proof. Early UK tax setup is easier when your login email matches the address you give employers and banks.

Banks do not issue One Login, but they often ask for government status evidence. A landlord or employer may want an eVisa share code, while a council or tax form may ask for One Login. Sequence those steps with the wider paperwork after moving checklist, and use statements from when you open a UK bank account as address proof elsewhere.