You log in to PayPal and see a banner saying your account is limited. You may not be able to send money, withdraw your balance, or in some cases receive payments. It’s stressful, especially when customer money is sitting in the account, but a limitation is usually a request for information, and most of them can be lifted by doing exactly what PayPal asks.
This guide is about the whole account being limited. If only one or two payments are marked on hold while everything else works, that’s a payment hold, which has different causes and fixes; see our guide to PayPal payments on hold instead.
Everything below is taken from PayPal’s own US help center and its US User Agreement. PayPal runs separate agreements and help centers for different countries, so if you’re outside the US, check your local versions and the notice in your own account.
Quick diagnosis: which situation are you in?
Start by logging in to PayPal yourself, by typing paypal.com into your browser rather than clicking a link in an email. Then open the Resolution Center or the bell icon at the top of your Dashboard. What you find there tells you which case you’re in:
- A limitation notice with steps to complete: the most common case. Work through the steps (covered below) and wait for the review.
- You’ve already completed every step and it’s still limited: PayPal says this usually means it has emailed you asking for more information, or it’s still reviewing what you sent.
- No limitation shows in your account, but you got an email saying there is one: the email may be phishing. Don’t click anything in it.
- A notice saying PayPal can no longer offer you its services: this is a deactivation or permanent limitation, not a request for documents. Read the section on your balance below.
- Only certain payments are held, not the account: that’s a payment hold, not a limitation.
What a limited PayPal account means
PayPal describes a limitation as a restriction on what your account can do, such as sending or withdrawing money. Its UK help center adds that “some features may be unavailable, affecting your ability to send and receive money.” Exactly which features are blocked depends on your case.
To see what you can and can’t do right now, PayPal says to open the Notifications icon at the top of your Dashboard and select “Learn how to remove this limitation.” That page shows a table of the actions that are still permitted and the ones that are restricted.
According to its User Agreement, PayPal uses limitations “to help protect PayPal, its affiliates, buyers and sellers when we notice restricted activities, an increased financial risk, or activity that appears to us as unusual or suspicious.” The same section says limitations “also help us collect information necessary for keeping your PayPal account open.” In other words, many limitations exist simply because PayPal needs something from you before it can carry on.
Why PayPal limits accounts
PayPal says it will email you the reason for a limitation. Across its help center and User Agreement, the reasons it gives are:
- Regulatory requirements. For example, when you ask for certain products, such as a debit card, PayPal may need to confirm more about you to comply with the law.
- Acceptable Use Policy violations. Selling items PayPal doesn’t allow, which its help page illustrates with prescription drugs and guns, can lead to a limitation.
- Unauthorized use. If PayPal suspects someone is using your account without your knowledge, if a card issuer reports that your card was used without permission, or if your bank reports unauthorized transfers, PayPal says it will limit the account for your protection.
- Higher-risk selling activity. The User Agreement gives examples: “an unusually high number of claims and chargebacks, selling an entirely new or high-cost product type, or if your typical sales volume increases rapidly.”
- Inactivity. PayPal says an account that hasn’t been used much since it was opened can be limited too.
- A breach of the user agreement. PayPal can limit an account if it believes you’ve breached the agreement.
How to lift the limitation, step by step
PayPal’s own wording is that “usually, we ask you to complete some steps to remove your account limitation.” Work through them in this order:
1. Read the reason. Open the Resolution Center or the bell icon on your Dashboard and read the full notice. It names what PayPal needs, whether that’s confirming information, uploading documents, or changing your password and security questions.
2. Complete every listed step, not just the first one. A limitation won’t lift while any step is still open. If the cause was unauthorized access, PayPal says some limitations lift automatically once you finish steps like changing your password and security questions.
3. For an inactive account, upload proof of identity. PayPal’s help page says to log in and upload a proof of identity, such as a copy of your driver’s license or state ID, in your Notifications Center.
4. Upload documents that match your account exactly (details in the next section). Mismatched names or addresses are a common reason for being asked again.
5. Check your email and the Resolution Center while you wait. If PayPal needs more, it will ask there. PayPal says that in most cases customer service can’t remove a limitation over the phone, so calling repeatedly won’t speed things up.
Which documents PayPal accepts
PayPal says the list of documents it wants from you is in the Resolution Center, and that it may ask for documents related to your identity, address, a recent name change, or your business. Every document should be legible, show all four corners of the page, have nothing blocked or blacked out, and match the information on your PayPal account.
For proof of identity, PayPal accepts an ID card, a driver’s license (the plastic card, not the official letter), a passport, or another photo ID issued by a government body. It needs to show your first and last name, date of birth, issue and expiration dates, and document ID number. PayPal doesn’t accept state medical cards or expired, partial or obscured documents.
For proof of address, PayPal accepts documents such as a utility bill, a cell or landline phone bill, a motor vehicle registration, a bank or credit card statement, or a 401k or brokerage statement, each dated within the last 12 months. It also accepts a grant deed or lease agreement for your home, or a current ID card or driver’s license with your physical address. It does not accept envelopes, invoices, receipts or waybills.
If your name has changed and your ID doesn’t match your account, PayPal says it may ask for more documentation that shows the name change. If PayPal asks for business documents, upload exactly what the notice in your Resolution Center lists.
How long a PayPal limitation takes to resolve
PayPal’s help center says that once you complete the required steps, the review usually takes about 3 business days, and PayPal will contact you by email when it’s done.
That’s the typical case, not a promise. PayPal also says the time to resolve a limitation “depends on the complexity of your specific case.” If you’ve finished every step and the account is still limited after the review period, check your email (including spam) and the Resolution Center for a follow-up request before assuming you’ve been ignored.
The User Agreement adds one more caveat: even after you provide the information requested, “if we reasonably believe a risk still exists,” PayPal may still take action to protect itself and its users. That’s the point at which a limitation can become longer term.
What happens to your balance: the 180-day rule
This is the part most people search for, and it comes from PayPal’s US User Agreement, in the section on actions PayPal may take if it believes you’ve engaged in a restricted activity. One of those actions is “holding the balance in your Balance Account, the balance in your business account, or any money waiting to be claimed through your personal account […] for up to 180 days if reasonably needed to protect against the risk of liability or if you have violated our Acceptable Use Policy.”
The same clause says “the hold may remain in place longer than 180 days” when court orders, regulatory requirements or other legal processes require it. So 180 days is the general ceiling in the US agreement, with a legal-order exception, and it applies to restricted-activity cases. Not every limitation involves a balance hold; many are lifted in days once you supply documents.
The agreement also says that if PayPal closes your account or ends its services to you, it will give you notice and make any “unrestricted funds” in your balance available for withdrawal. You remain responsible for reversals, chargebacks, claims and fees connected to your account, which is why PayPal can keep funds back while those risks are still open.
You also can’t simply close a limited account to get your money out. PayPal’s agreement says you may not close your account if it is subject to a hold, limitation or reserve, if you have a pending transaction or open dispute, or if it has a negative balance.
How to avoid a PayPal limitation next time
You can’t control every review, but the causes PayPal lists point to clear habits:
- Keep your account details current and complete any identity or business verification PayPal requests promptly, rather than waiting until money is stuck.
- Read PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy before you add a new kind of product, and don’t sell anything it prohibits.
- Grow steadily where you can. PayPal names a rapid increase in sales volume and selling an entirely new or high-cost product type as risk signals, so a launch or big promotion is a good time to make sure your verification and records are in order.
- Keep claims and chargebacks low: describe what you sell accurately, deliver on time, and answer customers before they open disputes.
- Secure the account with a strong, unique password and two-step verification, and only log in by typing paypal.com, so unauthorized use doesn’t trigger a limitation.
- Log in and use the account occasionally if you rely on it, since inactivity is also a listed reason.
Keep selling while PayPal reviews your account
A limitation can take days to clear, and relying on a single payment provider means one review can stop all your sales. It’s worth having a second processor connected before you need it. If you sell from a link-in-bio page, OneSol Pro lets you take payments straight to your own Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay or Square account, so you can switch which one your page uses while PayPal finishes its review. It won’t change PayPal’s decision on your account; resolving the steps in your Resolution Center is still the only way to lift the limitation.