To recover your Google Authenticator account, you need to log in to your Google account and access “2-Step Verification”.
On the “2-Step Verification” page, click on “Change Phone” and select the type of phone you have.
Lastly, install the Google Authenticator app on your new phone, scan the QR code, and enter the 6-digit code.
After you’ve entered the 6-digit code, all of your previous accounts will be recovered.
Google Authenticator also allows you to export accounts.
You can do so by tapping on the three dots followed by “Export accounts”.
Lastly, scan the QR code using the Google Authenticator app on your other phone.
However, this can only be done if you didn’t lose your old phone.
If you lost your old phone, you can only recover your Google Authenticator accounts on the “2-Step Verification” page.
Here’s how to recover your Google Authenticator account:
- Log in to your Google account and click on “Security”
- Click on “2-Step Verification”
- Enter your password
- Click on “Change Phone”
- Select the type of phone you have
- Scan the QR code
- Enter the 6-digit code
1. Log in to your Google account and click on “Security”
Log in to your Google account: https://myaccount.google.com/.
The first step is to log in to your Google account.
To do so, head over to https://myaccount.google.com/.
Once you’re on the website, click on “Go to Google Account”.
After you’ve clicked on “Go to Google Account”, you’ll land on the login page.
Enter your email address and password to log in to your Google account.
Once you’re logged in, click on “Security” on the left sidebar.
2. Click on “2-Step Verification”
After you’ve clicked on “Security”, you’ll land on the security page.
The security page allows you to manage your security settings.
You can manage “2-Step Verification”, “Recovery phone”, “Recovery email”, and more.
To recover your Google Authenticator account, you need to access “2-Step Verification”.
If you haven’t turned it on, click on “2-Step Verification” followed by “Get Started”.
Follow the on-screen instructions to set up “2-Step Verification”.
3. Enter your password
If you’ve already set up “2-Step Verification” and you clicked on it, you’ll land on the verification page.
To continue, you need to verify your identity by entering your password.
Firstly, enter your password into the “Enter your password” field.
Click on “Next” after you’ve entered your password to proceed to the “2-Step Verification” page.
4. Click on “Change Phone”
After you’ve entered your password, you’ll land on the “2-Step Verification” page.
Now, you’ll see 3 sections including “Google prompts”, “Authenticator app”, and “Voice or text message”.
On the “Authenticator app” section, you’ll see a link that says, “Change Phone”.
Click on “Change Phone” if you have a new phone and you want to recover your Google Authenticator account on it.
You can do this if you’ve lost your old phone.
5. Select the type of phone you have
After you’ve clicked on “Change Phone”, the “Get codes from the Authenticator app” pop-up will open.
Now, you need to select the type of phone that you have.
There are a couple of options including “Android” and “iPhone”.
If you’re using an Android device, select “Android”.
On the other hand, if you’re using an iPhone, select “iPhone”.
After you’ve selected the type of phone that you have, click on “Next” to proceed to the next step.
6. Scan the QR code
After you’ve clicked on “Next”, you’ll need to set up Authenticator.
Now, you’ll see a QR code that you have to scan.
Firstly, download Google Authenticator on your new phone.
Secondly, open Google Authenticator and select “Set up account”.
Lastly, select “Scan barcode”, scan the QR code on the screen, and click on “Next”.
7. Enter the 6-digit code
After you’ve scanned the QR code on the screen, you’ll see a 6-digit code in the app.
The 6-digit code is located in the “Google (your email address)” section.
Enter the 6-digit code in the “Enter code” field and click on “Verify”.
After you’ve clicked on “Verify”, your Google Authenticator account will be recovered on your new phone!
In other words, all of your previous accounts (e.g. cryptocurrency exchanges, payment services) will be recovered.
Conclusion
Recovering your Google Authenticator account is easy if you have access to your old phone.
You can do this by exporting your accounts to your old phone.
To do so, open Google Authenticator, tap on the three dots, and tap on “Export accounts”.
Tap on “Continue” and tap on “Export”.
Download Google Authenticator on your new phone and scan the QR code in your old phone.
After you’ve scanned the QR code, your Google Authenticator account will be imported to your new phone.
Lastly, you need to choose if you want to remove your exported accounts.
It’s recommended that you remove exported accounts from your old device for your security.
To do so, select “Remove all exported accounts” and tap on “Next”.
Before you do this, make sure that your accounts are successfully exported to your new phone first.
Further reading
How to Recover Gmail Password Without Phone Number And Recovery Email
How to Fix “Unfortunately, Google couldn’t verify this account belongs to you”
