Turn on two-factor authentication
Add a second step at sign-in using an authenticator app on your phone, save your recovery codes, and know what to do if you lose your phone.
Two-factor authentication adds a second step when you sign in: after Google or your emailed link, you enter a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone. It protects your account even if someone gets hold of your email or Google password.
Set it up
- Open Settings, then Sign-in security.
- Click Set up two-factor authentication.
- Scan the QR code with your authenticator app, or type the key by hand.
- Enter the 6-digit code the app shows and click Turn on.
- Save the ten recovery codes somewhere safe. Each works once and they are shown only this one time.
Signing in afterwards
- After Google or your emailed link, you are asked for the code from your app.
- Tick Trust this device for 30 days on your own computer to skip the code there for a month. Leave it unticked on a shared machine.
- Lost your phone? Choose Use a recovery code on the sign-in screen and enter one of the codes you saved.
If your workspace requires two-factor authentication for your role, you cannot turn it off yourself. Ask an admin if you think the policy should change.
Questions
Which authenticator apps work?
Any app that supports time-based codes: Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy, Apple Passwords, Microsoft Authenticator and others.
I lost my phone and my recovery codes. What now?
Ask a workspace admin to reset two-factor authentication for you under Settings, then Security. You set it up again at your next sign-in.
A code keeps being rejected.
Check the clock on your phone. Authenticator codes depend on the time being right. Each code is also valid for only about a minute.