Verification Link Does Not Verify the Account

If customers click the verification link but their account stays unverified in Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce, they are usually clicking an older link from an earlier email. Only the newest link works. Check the link settings at WPFactory > Email Verification (also reachable at WooCommerce > Settings > Email Verification) > General.

Symptoms #

• The link opens the site, usually the My Account page, but the user is still unverified in Users.
• The customer sees “Activation failed, please contact our administrator” or a “Link has expired” notice.
• After verifying, the customer receives a second email that shows the raw text %verification_url% instead of a link.

Causes and fixes #

1. The customer used an older link. Every activation email, including each resend, creates a new code and replaces the previous one, so links in earlier emails stop working. Ask the customer to use the most recent email, or resend it once and use that one. If Automatic resending (Email sub-tab, Pro) is on, a newer email may have arrived without the customer noticing.
2. The link has expired (Pro). If Expire time on the General sub-tab is above 0, links stop working after that time, measured in the Expire time unit (Seconds by default, so a value of 3600 means one hour). The customer then sees the Expire notice with a resend link. Raise the value, or set it to 0 to turn expiry off.
3. The encoding settings changed after the email was sent. The link carries a code encoded with the Encoding method on the Advanced sub-tab (Base64 encode by default, or Hashids). Changing the method, the Hashids salt or the Hashids alphabet makes links that were already sent unreadable. Change these only when needed, and resend activation emails to users who are still unverified.
4. A cached page is served instead of the verification. Verification runs when the link’s page loads, using the alg_wc_ev_verify_email parameter in the URL. If a page cache serves a stored copy of that page, the check never runs. Exclude URLs containing alg_wc_ev_verify_email, and your My Account page, from page caching.
5. The link was already used. With One-time activation link on (the default), a link works once. If the account is already verified, the customer sees the Already verified message instead, which is expected.
6. The second email is the confirmation email. After a successful verification, Email Verification sends the Confirmation email (Email sub-tab, on by default). The %verification_url% placeholder is only filled in the activation email. If you copied the activation email content into the confirmation email content (editable in Pro), remove the placeholder from it, or untick Confirmation email if you do not want this second email.

How to confirm it is fixed #

1. Register a test account in a private browser window with an email address you can check.
2. Click the link in the newest activation email.
3. You should see the success message and, with Login on activation on (the default), be logged in.
4. In Users, the account should show as verified if you enabled the verified column on the Admin sub-tab. See Managing User Verification from the Admin Panel.

FAQ #

Can I verify a customer myself? #

Yes. Enable the verified column and its actions on the Admin sub-tab, then use Verify on the user in Users. See Managing User Verification from the Admin Panel.

What if the email never arrives? #

That is a delivery problem rather than a link problem. See Verification Email Not Delivered or Delayed.

Still stuck? #

Send us the steps you followed, the notice the customer saw and whether you use a caching plugin. Our team answers every ticket on the Email Verification support forum.