> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.budgetbandit.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reconnect a bank

> Fix a broken or expired bank connection in Budget Bandit with Plaid's reconnect flow, including the MFA step-up.

Banks periodically require you to sign in again to keep a connection alive. When
that happens, Budget Bandit stops receiving new transactions for that
institution until you reconnect. Reconnecting reuses the existing link — it does
not create new accounts or duplicate your history.

## When you need to reconnect

On Settings, then Connections, a linked institution shows one of these states:

| Status                 | What it means                         | Action                    |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| **Connected**          | Healthy, syncing normally             | None                      |
| **Expiring soon**      | The bank will require re-auth shortly | Reconnect when convenient |
| **Reconnect required** | The bank dropped the session          | Reconnect now             |
| **Error**              | The last sync failed                  | Reconnect, then sync      |

When a state other than Connected appears, a **Reconnect** button shows next to
the institution.

## Reconnect

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Connections">
    Go to Settings, then Connections, and find the institution that needs
    attention.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Reconnect">
    Select **Reconnect**. Budget Bandit opens the Plaid window pointed at your
    existing connection.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify your identity if asked">
    Reconnecting touches a linked bank, so it is a sensitive action. If you have
    two-factor authentication on your account, Budget Bandit asks for your
    authenticator code before continuing. Enter the code to proceed. See
    <a href="/account/two-factor-authentication">Two-factor authentication</a>.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in at your bank">
    Complete your bank's sign-in or approval inside the Plaid window.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Done">
    The institution flips back to **Connected**. Choose **Sync now** to pull any
    transactions that accumulated while it was down.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Reconnecting keeps the same accounts and access. You will not be asked to map
  accounts again, and no new accounts are created.
</Note>

## After reconnecting

New transactions that arrived during the outage land in your
<a href="/transactions/to-review">To Review</a> queue, unapproved. Pending items
that posted while the feed was down are promoted in place rather than duplicated.
See <a href="/accounts/pending-vs-posted">Pending vs posted</a>.

## If reconnect does not stick

* The bank window errors out: close it and try again — banks sometimes rate-limit
  back-to-back attempts.
* It immediately returns to **Reconnect required**: confirm your bank login works
  on the bank's own website first, then retry.
* Still stuck: <a href="/accounts/fix-sync-problems">Fix sync problems</a> or
  <a href="/troubleshooting/contact-support">contact support</a>.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect a bank" icon="building-columns" href="/accounts/connect-a-bank">
    Link an institution for the first time.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Fix sync problems" icon="wrench" href="/accounts/fix-sync-problems">
    A connection that is healthy but stale.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Two-factor authentication" icon="shield-halved" href="/account/two-factor-authentication">
    Set up the code Budget Bandit asks for on sensitive actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bank sync troubleshooting" icon="life-ring" href="/troubleshooting/bank-sync">
    Deeper diagnosis for stubborn connections.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>