DeepSeek Login: How to Sign In to Chat, App and the Developer Platform

If you landed here because the DeepSeek login screen is asking for a code you never got, or because you cannot remember whether you signed up with Google, Apple or email, this guide is for you. There are actually three different DeepSeek login surfaces — the web chat at chat.deepseek.com, the iOS/Android app, and the developer platform at platform.deepseek.com where API keys live. They share an account but behave differently. Below you will find the sign-in steps for each surface, what DeepSeek documents about sign-in methods and verification codes, a fix list for the most common errors, and a short note on how the API differs from the chat once you are in.

The short answer: which DeepSeek login do you need?

There is one DeepSeek account, but three places you can sign in to. Pick the one that matches what you actually want to do — the credentials are the same across all three.

Chat history and saved conversations live behind the web and app surfaces. API keys, granted balance and invoices live behind the platform surface. If you only want to try the chatbot, stick with chat.deepseek.com; if you are building something, you will spend most of your time on the platform console. For a broader tour of what the product actually does before you sign in, see our what is DeepSeek explainer.

How to sign in to DeepSeek chat (web)

The web chat is the simplest way to check that your account works.

1. Open https://chat.deepseek.com in any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, Brave, Arc).
2. Click Log in.
3. Choose your sign-in method. DeepSeek’s privacy policy (last updated 10 February 2026, read 23 October 2026) describes accounts set up with an email address and/or telephone number and a password, and sign-in through a third-party service such as Apple or Google where available.
4. Complete the CAPTCHA or slider challenge if one appears.
5. If DeepSeek sends you a verification code, enter it before it expires.
6. You will land in a fresh chat session. According to DeepSeek’s 17 October 2026 Change Log, the official web and app models were updated to DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017; its 13 August 2026 release notes said V4 Pro is available on app and web via “Expert Mode”.

New here? The companion sign up for DeepSeek guide walks through account creation first, and DeepSeek account setup covers profile, security and notification preferences once you are in.

How to sign in on the mobile app

The official DeepSeek app is listed on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. Before you install, verify you have the genuine app — copycat apps use similar names and icons. Our verify official DeepSeek app guide shows the publisher names and bundle IDs to check.

1. Install DeepSeek – AI Assistant from the App Store (iOS/iPadOS) or Google Play (Android). As of 23 October 2026, the App Store listing names the seller as Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd and the Google Play listing names the developer as DeepSeek.
2. Open the app and tap Log in on the welcome screen.
3. Pick the same sign-in method you used on the web. If you signed up with Google on desktop, use Google on mobile — otherwise you may create a second account by accident.
4. Approve the OS-level sign-in prompt (Face ID, Touch ID, Apple ID sheet, or Google account chooser).

Your chat history is tied to your DeepSeek account; DeepSeek’s Privacy Policy (updated 10 February 2026) says you can manage, copy or delete it in settings. If your history looks different on another device, check that you signed in with the same method as before. For platform-specific quirks, the DeepSeek on iPhone and DeepSeek on Android guides cover version differences and permission prompts.

How to sign in to the developer platform

The platform console is where you create API keys, top up credit, and watch usage. It is a separate URL from the chat, and DeepSeek’s documentation does not say whether chat and platform sign-ins share one account.

1. Go to https://platform.deepseek.com.
2. Click Sign in and sign in, or register if your chat sign-in is not recognised.
3. If prompted on your first visit, accept DeepSeek’s Open Platform Terms of Service.
4. Open API Keys in the sidebar and create a new key. Copy the value immediately — DeepSeek shows it only once.
5. Visit Billing to add credit or check your granted balance. DeepSeek may offer a granted balance — a small promotional credit that can expire — so check the billing console for current offers rather than assuming new accounts are topped up automatically. When both exist, DeepSeek deducts usage from the granted balance first.

Once you have a key, you send it in the Authorization header of each API request; the base URL is https://api.deepseek.com for the OpenAI format and https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic for the Anthropic format. Full reference, including a minimal first request, lives in the DeepSeek API documentation, and the get a DeepSeek API key guide walks through the exact console clicks.

Verification codes and Google or Apple sign-in

DeepSeek’s public policies describe three ways in, so pick whichever matches how you signed up.

• Email or phone number with a password. DeepSeek’s Terms of Use refer to your account, password and verification code, and ask you to keep all three safe and to log out after use. As of 23 October 2026, neither the privacy policy nor the terms describes an authenticator-app (TOTP) two-factor option, so check your account settings rather than assuming one exists, and use a unique password.
• Google Sign-In. OAuth flow through Google, where available. If your Google account uses a hardware key or passkey, that protection applies to the Google side of the sign-in.
• Apple Sign-In. Where available. Sign in with Apple can hide your real email behind an Apple relay address if you choose that option.

Codes sent by SMS are only as safe as your phone number, so a strong Google or Apple account is the sturdier option where you can use it. If you have lost access, the reset DeepSeek password guide covers the recovery flow step by step; DeepSeek’s Terms say you can appeal for recovery if you lose your account, forget your password or leak your verification code.

DeepSeek login not working? A fix list

Most login failures fall into one of five buckets. The table below maps the symptom to the likely cause and the first thing to try.

If you see a flat “DeepSeek is unavailable” banner on every surface at the same time, it is usually an outage rather than your account. The DeepSeek status checker gives a quick read, and the broader DeepSeek troubleshooting guide covers harder cases like corrupted sessions and locked accounts.

Country and device restrictions you should know about

Not every login attempt fails because of the app. Regulatory actions have removed or limited DeepSeek access in several places. On 30 January 2025, Italy’s data-protection authority, the Garante, ordered an urgent limitation on DeepSeek’s processing of Italian users’ data (its press release is headed “Garante privacy blocca DeepSeek”). In the United States, the governors of Texas (31 January 2025), New York (10 February 2025) and Virginia (11 February 2025, Executive Order 46) announced bans on DeepSeek on state government devices, as reported by the Associated Press and NBC News at the time; these apply to government devices, not to personal ones. For a country-by-country overview, see DeepSeek availability by country.

On the privacy side: DeepSeek’s privacy policy says it collects, processes and stores your personal data in the People’s Republic of China, so conversations are subject to Chinese law and law-enforcement access under legal process is possible. If that trade-off matters for your work, read DeepSeek privacy before you sign in at all and compare with our DeepSeek alternatives roundup.

Chat vs API: what “being logged in” actually means

This is the single most common source of confusion after the first successful login.

When you sign in to the web chat or the mobile app, DeepSeek keeps your conversation state for you. You can close the tab, come back tomorrow, and scroll through past threads. File attachments and session history live on the server tied to your account.

The API is different. POST /chat/completions is stateless — DeepSeek does not remember prior turns on its side. Your client must resend the full messages array with every request to sustain a multi-turn conversation. “Being logged in” on the API means holding a valid API key in the Authorization header; it does not mean DeepSeek is keeping a conversation for you. Plan your code accordingly, and lean on context caching to keep the repeated prefix cheap. Current model names (deepseek-flash and deepseek-v4-pro) and peak and off-peak rates are on our DeepSeek API pricing page.

What to do right after you log in

Two-minute checklist once you are in:

• Use a unique password if you chose email or phone + password, and keep your verification codes private.
• Log out on shared devices — DeepSeek’s Terms ask you to log out securely after use.
• Check your data settings — the privacy policy says you can manage, copy or delete your chat history in settings, and lists a right to opt out of your personal data being used to train DeepSeek’s models.
• Create a named API key per project if you are building, so you can rotate or revoke one without breaking the others.
• Bookmark the billing page and check your balance before your first real traffic day.

From here, the natural next step depends on why you signed in. For conversational use, how to use DeepSeek walks through the chat features. For developer work, DeepSeek API getting started takes the key you just generated and builds a small working app around it. For a top-down view of everything in the product, the DeepSeek beginner guides hub is the index.