Google is introducing a new account recovery method called Recovery Contacts, which lets trusted friends or family members help you regain access to your personal account if you get locked out. This helps you if you lose your phone and can’t use it to confirm your identity.
We all know the headache of a forgotten password or a compromised account, so this is a much-needed feature. The new Recovery Contacts feature is now available for eligible personal Google Accounts, and you can find it under the Security section, which has been redesigned to make managing your information even easier.
If you find yourself unable to sign in because you’ve forgotten your password, lost a passkey device, or your account was compromised, your designated contact can help verify your identity. This offers a simple and secure way to regain access when the standard recovery methods, like answering security questions or using a recovery email, just don’t cut it.
You can set up to ten trusted friends or family members as recovery contacts, but there is a slight waiting period before they can actually help you. First, they have seven days to accept your invite, and once they’ve accepted, you have to wait another seven days before you can use them for account recovery. This is a lengthy waiting period, but it makes a bit of sense.
You don’t want someone else to be able to add the person, so the waiting period gives you time to undo it. However, an entire week is a long time, and you would have been able to stop anything like that before. I would think that four days is ample time, but that’s not the case here. If you want your friend or partner to be your recovery contact, you’d better do it now because of the long wait.
When you’re locked out and need help, you’ll be redirected to the account recovery page. You can then select your recovery contact, or you might get a prompt to reach out to them. You’ll hit “Get number,” and you’ll be given a number that’s only valid for 15 minutes. You’ll need to immediately reach out to your recovery contact, give them this number, and they’ll get a set of three different numbers on their device, which they’ll then use to select the one that matches the one you gave them. Apple and other companies have a similar feature, so it’s good to see Google add this feature.
Once your recovery contact selects the matching number, you should be able to get back into your account on your own device. It sounds a little complicated, but it’s a great safety net when all else fails. It’s important to note that your recovery contact won’t get your security alerts or notifications; they are only there to help you recover your account.
Another great recovery tool rolling out is Sign in with Mobile Number. If your phone gets lost, broken, or stolen, losing access to your Google Account is just another headache you don’t need. This feature automatically identifies your accounts using your linked phone number when you try to recover on a new Android device. You don’t need your password for verification; all you need is the lock-screen passcode from your previous device. This is gradually rolling out worldwide, so keep an eye out for it.
Source: Google Blog