How to Check If Your Email Was Exposed in a Data Breach

A free website called Have I Been Pwned lets you check if your email address appeared in any known data breaches — here's how to use it.

In this guide (4 steps):

1.Go to Have I Been Pwned
2.Enter your email address and check
3.What to do if your email was breached
4.Set up breach notifications for the future

Go to Have I Been Pwned

~18s

Open a browser and type haveibeenpwned.com directly into the address bar. This website was created by Troy Hunt, a well-known cybersecurity researcher, and is trusted by governments, companies, and millions of individuals worldwide. Do NOT search for it — type the address directly to make sure you go to the real site.

Enter your email address and check

~33s

Type your email address into the search box and press "pwned?" The site will tell you one of two things: a green banner saying "Good news — no pwnage found!" meaning your email has not appeared in any known breach database; or a red banner listing the breaches your email was found in, with the date of each breach and what data was exposed (usually email address, passwords, names, etc.).

Quick Tip

The site is completely safe — it does not store the email addresses you search, and it is used by the Australian government, the FBI, and the UK National Cyber Security Centre.

What to do if your email was breached

~37s

If your email appears in a breach, change your password on that service immediately. If you used the same password on other websites, change those too — this is called "password reuse" and it is one of the most common ways accounts get taken over. Also turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) on any account where it is available — this adds a text message or app code as a second login step so even a stolen password is not enough for a criminal to get in.

Warning

If the breach was recent (within the last year), also monitor your credit and bank accounts more carefully for the next few months for any unfamiliar activity.

Set up breach notifications for the future

~21s

On haveibeenpwned.com, scroll down and look for "Stay informed." Enter your email address to sign up for free alerts — you will get an email notification if your address appears in any future breach. This means you hear about it immediately instead of finding out months or years later. The notification emails come from @haveibeenpwned.com, not from a scammer.

You Did It!

You've completed: How to Check If Your Email Was Exposed in a Data Breach

Need more help? Get Expert Help from a TekSure Tech

When a company gets hacked, the stolen data — which often includes email addresses and passwords — can end up posted online for criminals to use. This is called a data breach. There have been thousands of data breaches over the years at companies like LinkedIn, Adobe, Yahoo, and countless others. A free, reputable website called Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com) lets you check whether your email address appeared in any of these known breaches.

Rate this guide

How helpful was this guide?

data breach

password security

email security

haveibeenpwned

identity protection