Error for Site Owner Invalid Key Type Message [3 Solutions]

If you own a website and use Google reCAPTCHA, you’re likely going to encounter a key type error. This error can make your experience with reCAPTCHA unpleasant. But don’t worry because the solution you seek is underway. In this article, I will be showing you some troubleshooting tips that will help you clear this error.

The error for site owner: invalid key type is a temporary problem that occurs when you’re using an incorrect reCAPTCHA key type. When setting up reCAPTCHA for your site’s forms, you’re required to choose between two options. These options are; the one-click reCAPTCHA (V2) and invisible reCAPTCHA. If you choose an incorrect reCAPTCHA key type, you will get the “Error for site owner: invalid key type” message.

What causes the Error for Site Owner: Invalid Key Type

Google reCAPTCHA program is used to know if a user is a human or a robot.  Many websites use such programs to prevent abuse from bots or automated programs written to generate spam. The error for site owner: invalid key type is a reCAPTCHA error. 

ReCAPTCHA key types are not interchangeable. For instance, the V3 reCAPTCHA keys are not compatible with the V2 reCAPTCHA. Therefore, you should always use the correct key type on your site.

There are four different reCAPTCHA types to choose from for your site. They are:

reCAPTCHA V3: This reCAPTCHA type verifies if an interaction is legitimate without any interaction with the user. It is invoked via a JavaScript API call.
reCAPTCHA V2 (“I’m not a robot” checkbox): This reCAPTCHA type requires you to confirm that you’re not a robot by clicking on a checkbox. It is easy to integrate with and can be rendered using only two lines of HTML.
reCAPTCHA V2 (Invisible reCAPTCHA badge): This reCAPTCHA type does not require you to click on any checkbox. It is invoked via a JavaScript API call or when a user clicks an existing button on your site.
reCAPTCHA V2 (Android): This reCAPTCHA type helps you to verify if a user is human by simply passing through without a CAPTCHA prompt or by giving them a challenge. It is part of the Google Play services SafetyNet APIs and you can easily integrate it into an app.
reCAPTCHA V1: This reCAPTCHA type has been shut down since March 2018.

You must use compatible key types on your site to avoid the error for the site owner: invalid key type. However, if you’re facing this error, you can easily fix it with the solution that I have detailed for you in the next section.

How to fix the Error for Site Owner: Invalid Key Type

Fortunately, fixing this error does not require in-depth skills. All you need is a basic understanding of the internet and you’re good to go. But first of all, I’m going to show you how to set up reCAPTCHA for your site.

The detailed steps below will guide you on how you can easily set up reCAPTCHA for your website:

Step 1 – Create a Google reCAPTCHA Account

Launch your browser and create a Google reCAPTCHA account if you don’t have one already.

Step 2 – Register your Site and choose a reCAPTCHA type

Once your account is ready, register the site where you intend to use reCAPTCHA.

Access the setup, and choose a reCAPTCHA type. After doing this, you’ll receive a Site key and a Secret key.
Once you receive the Site key and Secret key, go to your site’s Formidable, and click on Global settings.
In Global settings, click on reCAPTCHA, and insert your site key and secret key.

Step 3 – Choose a Key type

Choose a reCAPTCHA key type.
Choose the default language you want for your reCAPTCHA.
Check the option for “Allow multiple reCAPTCHAs to be used on a single page.” If you don’t want to be using multiple reCAPTCHA fields on a page, leave this option unchecked.

Step 4 – Add reCAPTCHA fields to your forms

Now, add the reCAPTCHA fields to the forms you want to protect.

Now, when you’re done setting up your reCAPTCHA, you might see an “Error for site owner: Invalid key type” message.  You need to fix it immediately. 

Fortunately, you can fix it by changing the key type you generated to the one that matches your reCAPTCHA type. 

The detailed solutions below will guide you on how to fix the Error for site owner: Invalid key type:

Solution 2:Change the reCAPTCHA key type 

If you have set up a V2 reCAPTCHA for instance in your Google reCAPTCHA admin, the keys won’t be the same as that of a V3. Therefore, specifying V3 in the CDN admin panel of a ReCaptcha plugin on your site will cause a ‘key type’ error.

The following steps will guide you on how to change the reCAPTCHA key type to a compatible one:

Go to your site’s Formidable, and click on Global settings.
Access the Global Settings, and click on reCAPTCHA.
Insert your Site key and Secret key
Change the key type to the one that matches your reCAPTCHA type.
Check your site to see if the error is resolved.

Solution 3:Disable the reCAPTCHA

Disabling the reCAPTCHA will successfully fix the Error for the site owner: Invalid key type.  But you can only do this if you no longer need the reCAPTCHA.

The following steps will guide you on how to disable a reCAPTCHA:

Go to the form builder page.
Look for the forms that include a reCAPTCHA that you would like to disable and delete the reCAPTCHA fields on them.

Alternatively, you can visit your site’s Formidable, and access the Global settings page. In the global settings page, remove the reCAPTCHA keys.

Conclusion

Finally, you must protect your site from automated programs that are written to generate spam. But you’re likely to face the Error for site owner: Invalid key type while doing this. Fixing this error requires that you perform the simple solutions above. I believe that after reading this article you can now easily perform these solutions in order to fix this error.