# reCAPTCHA GitLab leverages [Google's reCAPTCHA](https://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/index.html) to protect against spam and abuse. GitLab displays the CAPTCHA form on the sign-up page to confirm that a real user, not a bot, is attempting to create an account. ## Configuration To use reCAPTCHA, first you must create a site and private key. 1. Go to the URL: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/admin 2. Fill out the form necessary to obtain reCAPTCHA keys. 3. Login to your GitLab server, with administrator credentials. 4. Go to Applications Settings on Admin Area (`admin/application_settings`) 5. Fill all recaptcha fields with keys from previous steps 6. Check the `Enable reCAPTCHA` checkbox 7. Save the configuration.