What Is a Tumblr Magic Link and Should You Use One?

When you want to log in to Tumblr, you enter your Tumblr username and proceed to the screen below, hoping to enter your password. Still, you will be presented with two options – Send Me a Magic Link and Use Password to Login. Strange! And to make things even weirder, it does it on mobile too.

So what is the magic link? An alternative way to log into your Tumblr dashboard? Is it even safe to use? You probably get dizzy with such questions. But don’t worry. You will find all the answers here. So keep reading.

What is the Magic Link?

Tumblr developers like to go overboard when it comes to naming new features. And unsurprisingly, a magic link is simply a link sent to the email address associated with your Tumblr account. As you get when you request a password change via email.

However, these links function slightly differently. Click one and it’ll automatically log you into your Tumblr dashboard, no questions asked. This is actually pretty cool.

But why go into all that extra trouble? Seems like a waste of time. Especially when you can feed a password instead. As useless as magic links may seem, they serve a purpose.

Click one and it’ll automatically log you into your Tumblr dashboard

Examples for Magic Links

Obviously, signing in with a password is much faster, and even faster if you’ve saved your Tumblr password with your web browser or password manager – autofill can get you to your dashboard quickly. But what if that’s not the case?

If you adhere to good password etiquette, it’s not fun to manually enter a long alphanumeric Tumblr password every time you want to log in, right? And on the mobile app, it’s more likely to misfeed a password.

Since you usually sign in to the default mail app on your PC or mobile, it becomes much more convenient to use a magic link instead.

But what about cases where you actually forgot your password? Instead of spending time creating a new one, all you need is a magic link to log in until you really want to reset your password.

But that’s only half the story – magic links also fulfill a vital security aspect. For example, imagine a potential scenario of keyloggers running in the background on your PC – possibly after a malware infection – and you’re not sure your anti-malware scanner can effectively block it. A magic link should help you in such a situation.

In short, from a device you don’t own, a public Wi-Fi hotspot, etc. Choose a magic link when you think your Tumblr password can be hacked by signing in using

Using magic links as the only way to log in isn’t all that feasible. However, you don’t want an inbox full of login emails from Tumblr. Therefore, consider using them only when necessary. Or at least until Tumblr gets rid of passwords completely. Considering it’s a big hassle and security concern, a passwordless login can happen.

When to Use Magic Links

Let’s check a magic link in action and look at the pitfalls associated with the whole process. Unfortunately, magic wands are not needed.

Start by entering your username or email address on the Tumblr login screen, and then click or tap Next.

On the screen below, click the ‘Send me a magic link’ button. Wait a few seconds for an email from Tumblr to reach your inbox.

Note:

Just open the email and then click Let’s Get Started. And that’s it. Your default browser or Tumblr app should load your dashboard right away.

If you don’t receive the email, you may want to check the Junk folder in your mail app and mark it as ‘not spam’ to prevent future magic links from being marked.

Magic links also expire after a few minutes, so be sure to use them right away. Of course, you can easily recreate a new magic link.

Can I Disable Magic Links?

Unfortunately you can’t. Tumblr does not provide tools for disabling magic links from the login screen and directly feeding your password. Yes, it’s too bad you’d rather use a password than expose yourself to a potential phishing attack.

In fact, when the feature was first released, Tumblr used to forcefully send a login link by default. After a shout, you now have the option to choose between the two. So things are actually much better than before.

Magic Links Demystified

Hopefully, you now know what magic links are and what purpose they serve. Indeed, Tumblr could replace the ‘magic’ with ‘login’ and save you the confusion. But that would go against the weird spirit of this great blogging platform, wouldn’t it?

So, are you planning to use magic links with your Tumblr account?