Problems with Sage ID Authentication

Problems with Sage ID authentication generally occur when the user relies on remote data access to open a company file. Because of an authentication problem, the company file does not launch, and the user gets an error stating “We were unable to authorize Sage ID credentials.” Users with older releases of Sage 50 may have to upgrade their accounting software. Others may have to try different solutions to fix the Sage 50 authentication error. Solutions include updating windows, resetting passwords, and configuring security software.

In this post, you’ll learn how to fix problems with Sage ID authentication.

The exact error message is shown…

Sage 50 Accounting: Error: We were unable to authorize your Sage ID credentials

Causes for Sage 50 Unable to Authorize ID Credentials

The Sage ID authentication issue occurs when you open a company file using remote data access, but the authentication fails, so Sage 50 cannot connect to the remote data.

• The Sage account is inactive
• Windows or third-party security software is interfering with the authentication process
• The user hasn’t installed the latest Windows updates that address such issues
• The user has incorrectly entered the captcha answers.

Resolve Unable to Authorize Sage ID Credentials

Solution 1: captcha error

Before authenticating your connection, Sage 50 may prompt you with a captcha that you need to input correctly to proceed. If, at the time of authentication, you hit continue without properly entering the captcha text, then the authentication will fail.

• Wait for the login page to appear.
• Input your authentication credentials.
• Type in the captcha correctly.
• Click on Continue, and do not hit enter.

The error generally occurs when users hit the Enter key and press the Continue button. The form submission, thus, cancels out because of resubmission, ultimately leading to Sage ID authentication error.

Solution 2: eliminate interference from other programs

Windows security settings and security programs can interfere with the authentication process by blocking the network connection for Sage 50. 

Disable User Account Control Settings in Windows

You can temporarily or permanently disable UAC settings in windows if it regularly interferes with the authentication process. But before doing so, you need to test by temporarily disabling the UAC.

Steps to disable user account control settings to fix Sage ID authentication error:

• Go to the Start menu and search for UAC.
• Click on Change User Account Control settings.
• Choose the option Never notify by using the slider, then choose Ok.
• When prompted with “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”, click on Yes.
• Restart your system so that the new settings can take effect.

You can enable the user account settings by following the same process. However, if you find that disabling UAC fixes the problems with Sage ID authentication, then you should run Sage 50 as an administrator.

Configure Windows firewall to allow Sage 50 connections

A firewall blocks connections to programs that it doesn’t trust. When you first install Sage 50 and launch it on your system, Windows generally prompts you to choose the Firewall settings from Sage 50. If you didn’t select the correct option or didn’t receive the prompt in the first place, you’ll have to configure the Windows firewall to allow network connections for Sage 50.

• Log into Windows with an admin account.
• From the Start menu, click on Windows Firewall.
• Choose Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall.
• Click on Change settings, then click on Yes if you receive a user account control prompt.
• Allow the following programs through the Windows firewall:
  • Sage 50 Connection Manager
  • Mysqld-nt.exe
  • Mysqld.exe
  • File and Printer Sharing
• Save the changes and restart your system.

Solution 3: create a new Windows user account

Damage to the Windows user profile also creates authentication errors in Sage 50. You’ll have to create a new user account and test for error resolution. 

• Go to the Start menu, then choose Settings.
• Click on Accounts.
• Choose Family & Other users.
• Click on Add other users.
• Choose Add account.
• Click on “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information”.
• Click on Add a user without a Microsoft account.
• Input the username and password for the new user account.
• Launch Sage 50 in the new user account and sign in to the service once again to verify that you’ve fixed problems with Sage ID authentication.

Solution 4: install the latest updates for Microsoft Windows

Sometimes installing the latest updates for Windows fixes the error “We were unable to authorize your Sage ID credentials.”

• Go to the Start menu.
• Choose Settings.
• Click on Windows Updates.
• Select Check for Updates.
• Click on Install Updates.
• Restart your system once Windows has downloaded and installed the updates.

Only after you restart your system will the changes reflect in Windows.

Solution 5: reset the password for your Sage account

If the details that you’re entering are incorrect, then you’ll have problems with Sage ID authentication. If you think that you’ve forgotten the password for your Sage 50 account, then you can reset the password easily.

Steps to reset the password for your Sage account to fix the Sage ID authentication error:

• From the Sign in page, click on Forgot your password?
• Input your email address.
• Enter the Captcha test and hit continue.
• Input the code sent to your registered email address, then click on Continue.
• Input a new password for your Sage account, then click on Continue.

Conclusion

I hope that you can fix the error “Sage 50 unable to authorize ID credentials” with the help of the solutions available in this post. Most of these solutions require you to have admin access to Windows and/or Sage 50 company files. Before you make changes to your company file, you can create a backup file to safeguard your data.

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