Technology

Lost Your Phone With Google Authenticator? Here’s What To Do Next

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Switching on two-factor authentication is an effective way to keep your accounts safe from hackers&comma; especially on work devices that contain sensitive company data&period; Apps like Google Authenticator make two-step verification easy by generating one-time codes you can use to access your accounts&period; They help to prevent unauthorised sign-ins&comma; and give your phone an additional layer of app-based security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">But losing a phone with Google Authenticator app installed can quickly turn into a security nightmare for your company&period; We asked <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;eset&period;com&sol;au&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">ESET<&sol;a> to explain how to deal with a lost authentication key due to a lost&comma; stolen or erased phone and get back to business ASAP&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>How to recover Google Authenticator without access to your phone<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<h3>Scenario 1&colon; You’re logged in to the account with 2FA on another device<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;lost-phone-google-authenticator&sol;lost-authenticator&lowbar;2&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-21094"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21094" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;03&sol;lost-authenticator&lowbar;2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"2fa" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"512" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">You’re far from the only person in the world to lose a phone&period; For that reason&comma; many platforms that allow you to activate two-factor authentication &lpar;2FA&rpar; offer workarounds to help you log in to your account&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you’ve ever logged in to the account in question on a device besides your smartphone&comma; try navigating to that account’s security settings&period; From there&comma; you might be able to verify your identity and reset or disable 2FA&period; The easiest way to do this is if you’re logged in to other Google apps&comma; like YouTube&comma; or other Google devices&comma; such as the Google Nest or Google Home Mini&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you already have a new phone&comma; you can link Google Authenticator to the app on that device&period; With some services&comma; you can see the QR code or secret key in the settings menu — and you can just enter those details in the authenticator app on your new device&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Scenario 2&colon; You don’t have access to your account<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Let’s say you’re not logged in to your account on another device&period; If the steps above don’t work&comma; recovering the authenticator isn’t possible&period; This is because the secret keys the app generates are linked to the device&period; But you can <em>restore <&sol;em>access to your account using different authentication methods&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;lost-phone-google-authenticator&sol;lost-authenticator&lowbar;3&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-21095"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21095" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;03&sol;lost-authenticator&lowbar;3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"lost-authenticator" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"512" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Try these tactics&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li><strong>Request a one-time backup code&period; <&sol;strong>Most services that offer 2FA offer emergency codes so you can sign into your accounts if you don’t have the original device&period; You can try using these backup codes to regain access to your 2FA accounts&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><strong>Get a verification code via email or text&period; <&sol;strong>Is the account linked to your phone number or email address&quest; If so&comma; begin logging in like you normally would&comma; entering your username and password&period; You’ll then see an option to enter a one-time code from the lost authenticator app&period; Search for a link saying &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Don’t have a code” or &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Try another way&comma;” and you should be able to choose to receive a code by text&comma; email or voice call&period; Once you get it&comma; type in the details and sign into your account&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><strong>Reach out to customer support&period;<&sol;strong> When all else fails&comma; contact the service’s administrative team&period; They may have alternative methods to verify your identity and restore access to your accounts&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Backing up Google Authenticator<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When you’ve logged in to your account&comma; link Google Authenticator to the apps on your new phone&period; Then&comma; create backups of your individual Google Authenticator accounts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There are two ways to do this&period; You can either go to each account’s security settings and request the 2FA backup code&period; Or&comma; you can generate an Export QR code of your account keys via the Authenticator app&period; Here are the steps&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li>Open the Google Authenticator app and click the three-dot menu&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Tap Transfer accounts &gt&semi; Export accounts&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Choose the accounts you want to generate a QR code for&period; Click Next&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Snap a photo of the code&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once you have the code&comma; store it securely — aka on another device&period; That way&comma; if you lose your smartphone again&comma; you’ll be able to bounce back and recover your accounts quickly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Double up on your security OR Recover your accounts quickly and easily<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Google’s authenticator app provides an extra layer of security to help secure your online accounts&comma; but it has its limitations&period; It isn’t linked to the cloud&comma; which makes it a much more manual process to transfer your codes over to another — or a new — device&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It works best in tandem with other authentication apps&period; For businesses of all sizes&comma; we recommend <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;eset&period;com&sol;au&sol;business&sol;secure-authentication&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">ESET Secure Authentication &lpar;ESA&rpar;<&sol;a>&period; Part of ESET Protect products&comma; this feature is an easy-to-use&comma; mobile-based multi-factor authentication &lpar;MFA&rpar; solution that steps up security and protects companies from the fallout from weak passwords and unauthorized access&period; It helps to prevent data breaches and works seamlessly with cloud services like GSuite and Dropbox&period; The best bit&quest; It takes just 10 minutes to set up for as many users as you want&comma; and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;eset&period;com&sol;au&sol;about&sol;contact&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">ESET’s team<&sol;a> is there to answer any questions along the way&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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Hardik Patel

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