“Reconnect needed” on a channel

What does “Reconnect needed” mean?

“Reconnect needed” means the platform stopped accepting Karrow’s permission to post for that account, so Karrow can’t publish there until you sign in again.

That can happen when a login expires, when you change your password, or when you remove Karrow’s access in the platform’s own settings. When the platform reports it, the account is marked right away. Karrow also checks every connected account once a day, so a change that wasn’t announced shows up within about 24 hours.

Nothing is deleted. The account, its handle, and your posts stay in Karrow. The account just can’t publish until it’s reconnected.

Where will I see it?

You’ll see a Reconnect needed badge on the account in Settings → Channels and on the publication’s Channels tab, in place of Primary or Not primary.

If it was the publication’s only working channel, the bell also lists “(publication) has no channels” under Needs attention, with Connect a channel underneath.

The account also drops out of the Channels table on Analytics until it’s reconnected. Its past numbers aren’t lost; they show again once the account is active.

If the publication has a second account on the same platform, that one becomes Primary while the first is disconnected, and new posts on that platform go out from it.

How do I reconnect a channel?

Click Reconnect next to the account and sign in to the same account on the platform.

1. 1Open Settings → Channels, or the publication’s Channels tab, and find the account marked Reconnect needed.
2. 2Click Reconnect. The platform’s sign-in opens in a new window. If your browser blocks the window, the sign-in opens in the same tab and brings you back afterwards.
3. 3Sign in with the same account and approve access.
4. 4Back in Karrow, you’ll see “Your (platform) account is connected.” and the badge changes from Reconnect needed to Primary or Not primary.

If confirmation takes a moment, you’ll see “Finishing your connection, your (platform) account will appear here in a moment.” Leave the page open; it updates by itself.

What if the wrong account connects?

If the wrong account connects, log out of it on the platform, then click Reconnect again.

The platform signs you in with whichever account your browser is already logged into. If that’s not the account marked Reconnect needed, Karrow may tell you “You’re already connected to (platform) in this browser. Log out of (platform) first, then try again.”, or the other account may be added as a new row. Remove a row you didn’t mean to add with Disconnect.

Reconnecting the right account keeps its existing row, even if the platform hands back a new ID for it, so you won’t end up with the same handle listed twice.

Before you click Reconnect, make sure your browser is signed in to the same account on that platform.

What happens to my scheduled posts?

Posts already scheduled on that account may fail while it’s disconnected; once you reconnect, open any that failed and use Edit & reschedule.

To find them in one place, open Posts, set the Status filter to Failed, and set the channel filter to that platform.

Scheduled posts aren’t moved to another account for you. Each one stays on the account it was scheduled with.

Drafts are safe, because nothing is sent from a draft. When you schedule one and the publication has another working account on that platform, the post goes out from the Primary one. If it has none, you’ll see “Connect (platform) to schedule this post.”

An example, start to finish

A hypothetical example: on Monday you change your LinkedIn password. Your LinkedIn account in Karrow is now marked Reconnect needed, and a post you scheduled for Tuesday morning is turned down, so the bell shows “1 post failed to publish”.

You open Settings → Channels, click Reconnect on the LinkedIn account, and sign in with the new password. The badge goes back to Primary.

Then you click Review failures, set the Status filter to Failed, open Tuesday’s post, and click Edit & reschedule. It opens in the editor as a draft, you pick a new time, and click Schedule. Any other post on that account that failed while it was disconnected gets the same treatment, and later posts are worth a quick look in Posts after their time has passed.

What if Reconnect doesn’t work?

If Reconnect doesn’t work, Karrow shows “We couldn’t reconnect @(handle). Try again.” under the account. Wait a moment and click Reconnect again.

If the platform’s window opens but you close it before approving, nothing changes and the account stays marked Reconnect needed. Click Reconnect and finish the sign-in.

If it still won’t reconnect, contact us from the support page with the platform and handle.

Reconnect is not Disconnect

Reconnect signs the same account back in and keeps everything as it was. Disconnect removes the account from Karrow and stops it posting, and you’d connect it again from scratch later.

When you see Reconnect needed, use Reconnect. Only use Disconnect for an account you no longer want posting from this publication.

After you change a platform password, or remove apps in the platform’s security settings, check Settings → Channels and reconnect anything marked Reconnect needed before your next scheduled post goes out.