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This article describes how to add CAPTCHA protection to a Joomla site. CAPTCHAs help protect your site from spamming by bots and other malicious actors.
For general information about what CAPTCHAs are and what they do, please see this article.

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Adding CAPTCHA protection

There are several Joomla plugins available that add CAPTCHA support to a site. Some plugins require a fee, while others require registration. One CAPTCHA plugin that is free and does not require any registration or API key setup is OSOLCaptcha. To add CAPTCHA protection to a Joomla site using the OSOLCaptcha plugin, follow these steps:
  1. Use your web browser to visit the OSOLCaptcha project page at https://github.com/osolgithub/OSOLCaptcha4Joomla3.
  2. In the right sidebar, click Download ZIP, and then save the .zip file on your local computer.
  3. Log in to your Joomla site as the administrator.
  4. On the top menu bar, click Extensions, and then click Extension Manager.
  5. Click the Upload Package File tab.
  6. Click Browse, and then select the .zip file you downloaded in step 2.
  7. Click Upload & Install. Joomla installs the plugin.
  8. On the top menu bar, click Extensions, and then click Plugin Manager.
  9. Under Filter, in the Select Type list box, click system.
  10. Locate the System - osolCaptcha plugin in the Plugin Name column.
  11. In the Status column, click the x icon to enable the plugin.
  12. To configure the plugin, click System - osolCaptcha.
    📘 Note You can modify the CAPTCHA styling and many other options, as well as preview your changes.
  13. When you are done configuring the plugin, click Save.
  14. CAPTCHAs are now activated for your site. To test this, go to any of the following forms on your site:
  • Login registration form
  • Password reset form
  • Username reminder form
  • Contact form

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More information

For more information about the OSOLCaptcha plugin, please visit http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-a-security/site-security/captcha/11521.