What happens if i lost my phone with google authenticator

Most online accounts give you the option of setting up 2FA for an extra layer of security when logging in. Using your phone number as your 2FA verification is excellent – you receive a text or phone call to verify it’s you, and boom! You’re in. Except now you’ve lost your phone and can’t access any of your accounts. Don’t panic just yet; you still have some options, which we discuss below, along with some handy preventative measures.

Backup codes: the easy way to recover your account

When you set up 2FA on most sites, including Google, they provide you with a set of unique recovery codes, which are made up of random numbers and sometimes letters. Each backup code can be used once to log in to your account.

• Tip: Save your backup codes offline

Please don’t save your recovery codes in the cloud – such as in your emails or notes. Your email account and devices can be hacked, lost, or stolen, and if you get locked out of your email account, you’ll lose access to your codes. Instead, use a USB stick, external disk drive, or encrypted password manager to store them securely. If you want to get more creative, you could store them on an old phone, Kindle or iPad that is factory-reset and set to offline mode for maximum security.

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Transfer your old phone number to a new phone

If you didn’t save your backup codes, and you’ve lost the phone that you use for 2-factor authentication – try calling your phone network to transfer your old number over to a new phone. You’ll need a new SIM card for that, and it could take a day or two for it to activate. But once you have your old number working again, you can receive 2FA verification codes as usual.

• Tip: Erase your old phone remotely

If you’ve lost your phone, you should be able to remotely erase it if you’ve previously activated the feature in settings. Use Apple’s Find My Phone or Google’s Find My Device to view its location and delete its contents. The last thing you need is someone accessing your 2FA from your old phone and breaching all of your accounts.

Have your verification code sent to your backup phone

When you set up 2-step verification, you may have been given the option to choose a backup phone in case you lose access to your main number. If you’ve done this on Google, for example, select “Try another way to sign in” and have your verification code sent to your backup phone.

• Tip: Use a trusted family member or friend as a backup

You can add their number as a trusted backup source in case you lose access to your phone. Since a phone number is only part of the verification process for most accounts, it’s a good idea to use this method for your Apple ID, for example. Apple’s alternative recovery process is intentionally time-consuming to deter criminals. That’s why having a trusted friend receive your codes can be a massive relief during emergencies.

Set up 2FA on two different devices

Having a secondary device with your 2FA is a great backup if you ever lose your primary phone. A whole barrage of authentication apps exists to help you with 2FA, like Authy and Google Authenticator. The latter lets you scan a unique QR code to verify it’s you. Take a picture of the QR code on a secondary device or, better yet, print it and store it in a secret location to use in dire situations.

Contact customer service

Losing access to your 2FA isn’t the end of the world, which is why customer service departments are there to help. While proving your identity and going through recovery processes are difficult and time-consuming, your service may offer some quicker verification methods. Take your bank, for example. They may ask you to confirm your card details, unique security numbers, or address to help you get back into your account. Either way, forgetting passwords and losing devices is common, so it’s always worth a call before you give up.

Use NordPass with biometric authentication

2-step authentication is a good security measure, but it’s not without its inconveniences. So it might be time to rethink your account security and opt for biometrics. Biometric authentication uses face, voice, or fingerprint recognition to help you access your accounts. The NordPass app can be set up with your Face ID or fingerprint to quickly access your encrypted vault of passwords. No longer are you bound to stashing physical copies of passwords – your details in NordPass are accessible from your phone or tablet, even when you’re offline.

Even though you use 2FA, you still need a secure way of storing your passwords and codes, which is what NordPass is expertly designed to help you with.

My phone got stuck in bootloop a ways back so I am intimately familiar with this situation.

The easiest way is:

SAVE YOUR BACKUP CODES!

When you created your 2FA sign on with most sites, including Google, they provided you with backup codes. These are typically 10 codes made up of random character sequences like we44 k29d lw0d jwld nels 39ik and so forth. Each of of these can be used once in case you do not have access to authenticator.

Store these like you do a private key. Do not save them to your computer or dropbox. Do not send them. Do not post them on reddit. Write them down or print them out and store in 2 physically different locations.

The other option, which is actually way easier especially since my phone dies from constantly getting notifications, is to set up your 2FA on two devices whenever you enable 2FA or create a new account. Perhaps you can make use of that old, rooted, Amazon Kindle or iPhone 5. Factory reset & ensure it's not able to connect to the WiFi & turn on airplane mode.

You can also print out the QR code itself that you use to add to Google Authenticator originally so that if you ever need to re-set up 2FA, you can do so. If you don't have a printer, you can typically click the "show code" or "can't read the qr code?" or something and get a text version that you can then write down. Protip: make sure you label what this QR code or text code is (e.g. "2FA for Poloniex").

How to be Secure while being able to recover your 2FA

• Do NOT ever store your username, password, and 2FA phrase / QR code / recovery codes in the same location. This includes your password manager. Write that shit down or print it. Keep it separate. If they are together, it's not 2FA.

• Whenever you hand write something, best if you handwrite it twice in case you mix something up or accidentally write so messily you can't read it anymore. Always write it down, set up Google Authenticator from the key you wrote down (not the one on the screen), and then verify via the code that displays on your phone.

That said: most 2FA is surprisingly insecure bc usability.

It isn't inherently insecure, but it was surprisingly easy to regain access to all my accounts even though I had minimal backup codes stored in a multitude of locations over a few years.

1. Are you logged into Google on another device? Can you add a recovery phone number, email address, or turn off 2FA without needing to log in again?

2. Do you already have a backup phone number or email address set up? Chances are you do because Google incessantly bugs you to set it up. If so, you can easily bypass 2FA. (Note: this is inherently insecure. For the best security you do NOT want to have a backup email or phone number. If you don't understand why, try to regain access to your Google account right now without 2FA. Can you do it? Now, if you get that recovery email or text, don't use it yet. Instead, go through the process again, this time saying you don't have access to 2FA, email, or phone. Holy shit, what is that? A fucking security question about your first car which you've posted about 1000 times on Facebook & Twitter and wrote your college essay on?! Nice. Get your backup codes. Remove your other recovery options. Now.)

3. Do you have the recovery codes somewhere on your computer? Google (and others) really make it hard for you to blatantly disregard their instructions. It basically says "SAVE THIS SHIT NOW, BRO". Chances are, even if you didn't remember doing it, there is a text document or screenshot somewhere with this necessary information.

4. Do you have an old phone that you had Google Authenticator on with some access?

For non-Google accounts, it's pretty easy to restore access in one way or another, either via the above methods or going through the process of bypassing 2FA with your email account. A pain, but not impossible.

You can also break out that old computer and see if you are still logged in anywhere and can disable it. Or see if there are other access methods, like SSHing in or oauth where you can set up a new account via a Facebook or Twitter account that uses the same email address as the account you already have and see if you can sneak in that way.

There are a few that you will not be able to get into. In those cases, you will need to reach out to the service itself and see what you would need to provide in order to get them to turn of 2FA for you or otherwise bypass.

I would actually strongly encourage everyone to have a beer, turn off your phone, and see what accounts you can get into without your 2FA codes. If you can get it, you need to adjust your settings to be more secure AFTER you actually have viable, secure, offline backups of the recovery codes.

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