Signup issues - Free Edition

[matjung]

Signup issues - Free Edition
From what I could observe in this community, every now and then, there are signup issues.
As of now / today - 13:30 UTC
Joining this community worked as expected.
Getting access to databricks - Free Edition failed.
I received the Databricks Account Verification Code.
At the online system, when hitting the Continue link, I spot an issue in Webbrowser DeveloperTools Console.
401 - databricks-api.arkos*ED188*
Location Europe/Ireland
Depending on what feedback I receive, I might try again tomorrow.

[Ashwin_DSA · Accepted solution]

Hi @matjung,

Having checked our knowledge base, your steps are correct. The error message (401) seems to indicate an issue on the service side of the Free Edition signup flow rather than anything you’re doing wrong.

There are a few options you can try..

• Open an incognito/private window and start from the official Databricks Free Edition signup page (rather than a previously opened tab).
• Use a different browser and, if possible, temporarily disable VPNs/ad‑blockers.
• Make sure you’re using the most recent verification email/code and not an older one.

If you still see the same 401 error after that, it’s very likely a backend problem rather than a client-side one. In that case, the best next step is to contact the Free Edition team directly at free_edition_help@databricks.com and include:

• The email address you used to sign up.
• Your region (you mentioned Europe/Ireland).
• The approximate time of your last signup attempt (including timezone).
• A screenshot of the browser console or Network tab showing the 401 error.

They can check the logs behind your verification link and either unblock your account or confirm if there’s a known issue affecting Free Edition signups in your region.

The community team will not be able to resolve this for you.

If this answer resolves your question, could you mark it as “Accept as Solution”? That helps other users quickly find the correct fix.

[matjung]

This time it worked. After hitting the Continue button, one has to solve a puzzle. A few seconds later one gets greeted with *cloud.databricks.com* - mission accomplished. 

[darshil-k]

Adding one more workaround that isn't mentioned above. In my case, the existing 401-error fixes (incognito, official link, contact support) didn't help. What finally worked: signing up with a Gmail address that has no dots.

Gmail treats first.last@gmail.com and firstlast@gmail.com as the same inbox, but Databricks' signup seems to strip special characters and store the result as the username (this is an assumption). If you had any earlier failed attempts with the dotted version, a ghost account exists for the dotless one too, and new attempts fail silently.

Fix: incognito window + same Gmail without dots = signup went through on first try.

Hope this saves someone the troubleshooting time.

[nn1]

I encountered exact same issue and this answer solve the problem.

Thank you for the very helpful answer!