About self-service registration

Deprecation notice: Okta is deprecating Self-Service Registration (SSR) from the Okta Classic Engine for customers that don't currently use the feature. However, SSR remains supported for customers already using it on Okta Classic Engine. For orgs using the Okta Identity Engine, SSR is now part of the profile enrollment policy feature. See End-user registration for information about the expanded features available in the Okta Identity Engine. For any questions or concerns, contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Okta Support.

Self-service registration (SSR) lets users use a custom app or the OktaHomepage to self-register. After you enable SSR, a Sign up link appears in the Okta Sign-In widget. Users who select this link are directed to a new Create Account registration form based on a customized registration policy.

Super admin permissions and the Okta Sign-In Widget version 2.9 or later are required to enable SSR. See Okta Sign-In Widget Guide.

After you configure and enable your registration policy and the Sign-in widget, users click the Sign-up link in the Okta Sign-in widget to launch the Create Account registration form. Then they complete the fields that you configured in the SSR Registration Policy. See Register for an Okta account.

When registering, users need to provide an email address. Okta automatically uses the email address as the user's username and primary email address. A user with Read-Write permissions can't update their username.

Self-service registration supports these registration workflows:

  • Make email verification mandatory. After registering their information, users are immediately sent an email to verify their email address. Users must click the link in the email to complete the registration process. Users are then redirected to your app or to your org's Okta Homepage. Signing in is no longer required.

The lifetime of the emailed link is dictated by the Activation emails are valid for… setting on the SecurityGeneral page.

  • Make email verification optional. After registration, end users are immediately redirected to your custom app or portal or to your org's Okta Homepage. Okta then sends the user an email requesting verification of their email address.

    If the end user abandons the registration process, but the admin subsequently activates that self-registered user account, Okta still sends the activation email to the address entered by the end user.