Associated Email vs. Owner’s Email and What’s the Difference?
When registering a PurpleAir sensor, you’ll encounter two separate email fields:
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Associated Email
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Owner’s Email
Understanding their roles will help ensure you can register, access, and manage your sensor smoothly.
Associated Email
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Definition: This is the email tied to the sensor purchase - usually the email used when placing the order.
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Purpose: During registration, this email verifies that you’re authorized to claim the device.
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Editing: Send the Device ID and desired associated email to contact@purpleair.com, and we’ll update it for you.
Pro Tip: Create a sensor-specific email address if you purchase sensors for a business, university, group, or organization. This way, multiple users can access the sensors without sharing personal information.
Ex. purpleairproject@universitydomain.com, sensors@companyname.com or purpleair@organizationdomain.com
Owner’s Email
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Definition: This is the primary contact email for daily access and notifications - usually the person that physically has the sensor.
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Purpose:
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Private sensors - you’ll need this email to log in and view data on the map.
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Public sensors - this email is less critical for access but still receives important maintenance communications.
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Editing: Once registered, the Owner’s Email can only be changed by contacting support. You can send us an email to contact@purpleair.com.
Keep in mind: The registration page will allow you to add any email as the owner’s email, but to log in to the map and see the sensors associated with that email, you will have to use a Google-associated email address as the owner’s email.
Who receives the email confirmation? Once registration is submitted, the associated email addresses and the owner’s email address will get a confirmation email with registration and device details. If the associated and owner’s email addresses are the same, only one registration email will be sent.
Why Two Emails?
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They support shared ownership or organizational responsibility: for example, a shared associated email for permission and an individual’s email for notifications or map login.
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This split improves administrative flexibility for sensor lending programs or institutional deployments.
Find out more about creating a sensor lending program here.
Can You Log in to View Your Sensor?
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If your sensor is private, viewing it requires one of two actions:
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Logging into the map with the Owner’s Email, but only if it’s a Google‑associated address.
Here is a guide on how to log into the PurpleAir Map. -
Using the unique View link included in your registration confirmation email.
This article goes into more detail about viewing private sensors on the map.
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Troubleshooting Registration
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Unknown device or mismatch?
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Double-check the Device ID and Associated Email for typos
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If it still fails, your intended Owner’s Email may not match the original, send us an email to switch it at contact@purpleair.com.
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Need to update details (e.g. location, name, public/private)?
- Use the Modify this registration link in your original confirmation email to make changes, and for help with updating registration details you can follow this guide
Learn More
Learn more about PurpleAir FAQ’s.
Learn more about the sensor start-up guide.
Learn more about sensor maintenance.