Getting started: Are you a first-time AWS user?

If you're a first-time user of AWS, your first step is to sign up for an AWS account. When you sign up, AWS creates an AWS account with the details that you provide and assigns the account to you. After you create your AWS account, sign in as the root user, activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) for the root user, and assign administrative access to a user.

Prerequisites

To sign up for an AWS account, you need the following information:

• An account name – The name of the account appears in several places, such as on your invoice, and in consoles such as the Billing and Cost Management dashboard and the AWS Organizations console.

  We recommend that you use a standard way to name your accounts so that you can give your accounts names that are easy to recognize. For company accounts, consider using a naming standard such as organization-purpose-environment (for example, AnyCompany-audit-prod). For personal accounts, consider using a naming standard such as first name-last name-purpose (for example, paulo-santos-testaccount).

  For information about changing an account name, see How do I change the name on my AWS account?.

• Address – If your contact address is in India, the user agreement for your account is with Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), a local AWS seller in India. You must provide your CVV as part of the verification process. You might also have to enter a one-time password, depending on your bank. AISPL charges your payment method 2 INR as part of the verification process. AISPL refunds the 2 INR after verification is complete.

• An email address – The email address is used as the sign-in name for the root user and is required for account recovery. You must be able to receive email messages that are sent to this address. Before you can perform certain tasks, you must verify that you have access to email sent to this address.

  Important

  If this account is for a business, use a secure corporate distribution list (for example, [e-mail]) so that your company can retain access to the AWS account even when an employee changes positions or leaves the company. Because the email address can be used to reset the account's root user credentials, protect access to this distribution list or address.

• A phone number – This number can be used to confirm the ownership of your account. You must be able to receive calls at this phone number.

  Important

  If this account is for a business, use a corporate phone number so that your company can retain access to the AWS account even when an employee changes positions or leaves the company.

Step 1: Create your AWS account

1. In your browser, open the AWS home page.

2. Choose Create an AWS account.

   Note

   If you signed in to AWS recently, choose Sign in. If the option Create a new AWS account isn't visible, first choose Sign in to a different account, and then choose Create a new AWS account.

3. Enter your account information, and then choose Verify email address. This will send a verification code to your specified email address.

4. Enter your verification code, and then choose Verify.

5. Enter a strong password for your root user, confirm it, and then choose Continue. AWS requires that your password meet the following conditions:

   • It must have a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 128 characters.

   • It must include a minimum of three of the following mix of character types: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and ! @ # $ % ^ & * () <> [] {} | _+-= symbols.

   • It must not be identical to your AWS account name or email address.

6. Choose Business or Personal. The difference between these options is the information that we ask you for. Both account types have the same features and functions.

7. Enter your business or personal information. Refer to the recommendations in the Prerequisites section about the email address and phone number.

8. Read and accept the AWS Customer Agreement. Be sure that you read and understand the terms of the AWS Customer Agreement.

9. Choose Continue. At this point, you'll receive an email message to confirm that your AWS account is ready to use. You can sign in to your new account by using the email address and password you provided during sign up. However, you can't use any AWS services until you finish activating your account.

10. Enter information about your payment method. If you want to use a different address for billing purposes, choose Use a new address.

11. Choose Verify and Continue.

12. Enter your country or region code from the list, and then enter a phone number where you can be reached in the next few minutes. Enter the CAPTCHA code, and submit.

13. When the automated system contacts you, enter the PIN you receive and then submit.

14. Select your AWS Support plan. For a description of the available plans, see Compare AWS Support plans.

15. Choose Complete sign up. A confirmation page appears that indicates that your account is being activated.

16. Check your email and spam folder for an email message that confirms your account was activated. Activation usually takes a few minutes but can sometimes take up to 24 hours.

    After you receive the activation message, you have full access to all AWS services.

Note

If you are having trouble with account activation, see Troubleshooting issues with AWS account creation.

Step 2: Activate MFA for your root user

We strongly recommend that you activate MFA for your root user. MFA dramatically lowers the risk of someone accessing your account without your authorization.

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

   For help signing in using your root user, see Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the root user in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

2. Turn on MFA for your root user.

   For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for your AWS account root user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

Step 3: Create an administrator user

Because you can't restrict what a root user can do, we strongly recommend that you don't use your root user for any tasks that don't explicitly require the root user. Instead, assign administrative access to an administrative user in IAM Identity Center, and sign in as that administrative user to perform your daily administrative tasks.

For instructions, see Set up AWS account access for an IAM Identity Center administrative user in the IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Related topics

• For information about protecting your root user credentials, see Securing the credentials for the root user in the IAM User Guide.

• For a list of tasks that require the root user, see Tasks that require root user credentials in the IAM User Guide.