Upgrading your cellphone? Bear in mind to switch your Google Authenticator accounts

Have you ever lately upgraded your cellphone to one of many newest variations? Possibly an iPhone 13 or Pixel 6? Congrats! However do not get too excited simply but. There’s an necessary step it’s worthwhile to take earlier than discarding your previous cellphone: Ensure to switch the accounts you have got arrange in Google Authenticator to your new cellphone. 

Doing so will guarantee you possibly can nonetheless entry your two-factor codes and register to these accounts in your new cellphone. With out these codes, you would very nicely find yourself locked out of your on-line accounts. Fortunately, each iPhones and Android telephones allow you to simply switch your accounts from one cellphone to a different.

Two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of safety to your on-line accounts by requiring a randomly generated six-digit code after you have entered your password. As privateness considerations proceed to rise amid breach after breach, two-factor authentication (together with a password supervisor) is a crucial step that may assist fortify your on-line safety by making it more durable for others to take over your accounts. 

Most web sites provide the choice to obtain your 2FA codes by SMS texting or by utilizing a devoted app comparable to Google Authenticator, however we do not suggest utilizing SMS. Hackers have had a variety of success tricking wi-fi carriers into switching the SIM card related to an individual’s cellphone quantity and, in flip, receiving the two-factor codes despatched to your cellphone quantity. In 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account was taken over after his cellphone’s SIM card was modified. 

Here is what you will have to do to switch your accounts from one cellphone to a different. It should not take too lengthy, however it’s a good suggestion to put aside a while to ensure all of it goes easily. 

Use the import device to hurry up the method

In case you’re switching from one Android cellphone to a different, make your life simpler by utilizing the app’s switch device. Be sure to have the most recent model of Authenticator in your previous cellphone by checking for updates within the Play Retailer on Android or the App Retailer on iPhone. You may have to have Authenticator put in in your new cellphone, too: Obtain right here for iPhone or Android.

Then comply with these steps in your previous cellphone

1. Open Authenticator then faucet the three-dot menu icon adopted by Switch accounts.

2. Choose Export accounts and enter your PIN code when prompted. 

3. Decide the accounts you wish to switch then faucet Subsequent. 

In your new cellphone

1. Open Authenticator, faucet Get Began, 

2. Faucet Import present accounts? situated on the backside of the display.

3. Choose Scan QR code.

Your previous cellphone might have only one or a number of QR codes so that you can scan. Observe the prompts to complete the switch course of. You may see a affirmation immediate for every profitable switch. 

The old-fashioned method nonetheless works

If the switch device does not be just right for you, you possibly can nonetheless arrange Authenticator utilizing the previous technique of manually transferring your accounts, one after the other. Here is what you will have to do to switch your Google account:

1. Set up Authenticator in your new cellphone. 

2. In your pc, go to Google’s two-step verification web site and log in to your Google account. 

3. Click on Change Cellphone within the Authenticator app part. Choose the kind of cellphone you will be utilizing and comply with the prompts. If you wish to disable Google Authenticator altogether, click on on the trash can icon and ensure your resolution. Google will then revert to delivering your 2FA codes by way of SMS.

4. Open the Authenticator app in your new cellphone and faucet Start > Scan barcode. Scan the QR code displayed on Google’s web site with the Authenticator app, then enter the six-digit code to confirm all the pieces is working correctly. As soon as that is finished, the codes in your previous machine will now not be legitimate.

Repeat this course of for every service you at present use with Google Authenticator, be it Apple, Fb, Dropbox or Amazon. Do not delete the Authenticator app off your previous cellphone till you have moved all accounts to your new cellphone, in any other case you will be locked out of these accounts — and no one needs that.

Now that you’ve got transferred Google Authenticator to your new cellphone, take a while to study all the iPhone’s hidden options or grasp Android’s hidden options. Nonetheless attempting to determine what to do with that previous cellphone? We’ve got some solutions for iPhone
and Android alike.