Use a security key for 2-Step Verification - Google Account Help

Security keys can be used with 2-Step Verification to help you keep hackers out of your Google Account. Important: If you're a journalist, activist, ... SkiptomaincontentUseasecuritykeyfor2-StepVerificationSecuritykeyscanbeusedwith2-StepVerificationtohelpyoukeephackersoutofyourGoogleAccount. Important:Ifyou’reajournalist,activist,orsomeoneelseatriskoftargetedonlineattacks,learnabouttheAdvancedProtectionProgram. Step1:Getyourkeys Useacompatiblephone'sbuilt-insecuritykey BuyTitanSecurityKeysfromtheGoogleStore Orderacompatiblesecuritykeyfromaretaileryoutrust Step2:Addakeytoyouraccount Makesureyou’reusingthelatestversionofyourbrowserorOS.NewregisteredkeysnolongerworkonAndroiddevices8.0andlower. Openacompatiblebrowser,likeChrome. Enrollyoursecuritykey.Youmightneedtosignin. Tip: Tohelpyousigninifyourkeyislost,addmorewaystoproveit'syou.  Step3:Signinwithyourkey Securitykeysareamoresecuresecondstep.Ifyouhaveothersecondstepssetup,useyoursecuritykeytosigninwheneverpossible.Ifasecuritykeydoesn'tworkonyourdeviceorbrowser,youmightseeanoptiontosigninwithacodeorpromptinstead. Ifyoureceivetheerror,“YouneedtoregisterthisSecurityKeytoyourGoogleAccountbeforeyoucanuseittosignin”: Attempttosigninwithadifferentaccount. UpdateyourGooglePlayservice. Toaddtheaccountinquestion,trytosigninagain. Tip:You’llbeaskedforyoursecuritykeyoranothersecondstepanytimeyousigninfromanewcomputerordevice. WithBluetooth(BLE) OnyourAndroidphoneortablet,openaGoogleapporacompatiblebrowserlikeChrome,Firefox,Edge,orOpera. SignintoyourGoogleAccountifyouhaven’talready. Yourdevicewilldetectthatyouraccounthasasecuritykey.Followthestepstopairyourdeviceandkey. Afterpairing,youcansignintoyour GoogleAccountlikeyounormallydo.Ifweneedtomakesureit’syou,you’llbeaskedtopressthebuttononyourkey. FixproblemswithBluetooth Keywon'tpairwithphoneortablet Makesureto: TurnonBluetoothonyourdevice. Addthekeytoyouraccount. Usethepairingstepsabove.Youcan’tpairakeyfromyourdevice’sBluetoothsettings. UpdateyourdevicetothelatestversionofGooglePlayServices. TemporarilyturnonLocationServiceswhenyouuseyourkey. Keepyourkeyanddeviceclosetogether. Tryrestartingyourdevice. TryturningBluetoothoffandbackon. Keywon'tgointopairingmode Checkif: Yourkeyisunpluggedfromyourcomputerorcharger Yourkeyischarged GooglePlayServiceserror OnyourAndroiddevice,signinwithanaccountthatdoesn'tuseasecuritykey. GooglePlayServicesshouldstartupdatingautomatically. Makesureyourdeviceisconnectedtotheinternet. SignbackintoyourAndroiddevicewiththeaccountthatusesasecuritykey. FollowthestepstosigninusingyourkeywithBluetooth(BLE). WithNearFieldCommunication(NFC) OnyourAndroidphoneortablet,openaGoogleapporacompatiblebrowserlikeChrome. SignintoyourGoogleAccountifyouhaven’talready. Yourdevicewilldetectthatyouraccounthasasecuritykey.Followthestepstosigninusingyourkey. FixproblemswithNFC Makesureto: TurnonNFConyourdevice Addthekeytoyouraccount RemoveanythingthatmightbeblockingtheNFCsignal,likeacaseorsticker UpdateyourdevicetothelatestversionofGooglePlayServices Tryrestartingyourdevice TryturningNFCoffandonagain GooglePlayServiceserror OnyourAndroiddevice,signinwithanaccountthatdoesn'tuseasecuritykey. GooglePlayServicesshouldstartupdatingautomatically. Makesureyourdeviceisconnectedtotheinternet. SignbackintoyourAndroiddevicewiththeaccountthatusesasecuritykey. FollowthestepstosigninusingyourkeywithNearFieldCommunication(NFC). WithUSB OpenacompatiblebrowserlikeChrome. Signintoyour GoogleAccount. Yourdevicewilldetectthatyouraccounthasasecuritykey. ConnectyourkeytotheUSBportinyourdevice. YoumayneedaUSBadapter Ifyouseeamessagefrom"GooglePlayservices,"tapOK.Ifnot,moveontostep5. Turnonyourkey: Ifyourkeyhasagolddisc,tapit. Ifyourkeyhasagoldtip,tapandthenpressit. Ifyourkeyhasabutton,pressit. Ifyourkeyhasnoneofthesefeatures,youmayneedtoremoveandreinsertit.Thistypeofkeyturnsoffaftereachuse. Organizeyoursecuritykeys Youcanmanageyoursecuritykeysunderyour2-StepVerificationsettings.There,you’llfindalistofthekeysyou’veadded,fromthemostrecenttotheoldest.You’llalsofindmoreinfosuchasthekey'sname,thedateitwasadded,andthedateitwaslastused.Thekey’snamedefaultsto“SecurityKey”unlessyouchooseacustomname. Youalsohavetheoptiontoediteachsecuritykey’snameortodeleteit. Renameyoursecuritykeys Nexttoeachsecuritykey,clickonthepencilicontoedititsname.Thismeansthatifyouhavemultiplesecuritykeys,youcanbetteridentifythemwithacustomname. Whenyouclickonthepencilicon,apromptasksyoutotypeacustomnameforyoursecuritykey.Youcanchooseanameupto20charactersinlength. Removeyoursecuritykeys Nexttoasecuritykey,clickonthetrashbinicontoremoveitsothatit’snolongerconnectedtoyourGoogleAccount.Whenyouremoveyoursecuritykey,you’llbeaskedforconfirmation.YoumayalsoneedtosignintoyourGoogleAccountagain. Unabletousesecuritykey Ifyou’reunabletouseyoursecuritykey,youcangenerateasecuritycodetouse2-stepverification: Withyourotherdevicethat’ssignedintoyouraccount,gotog.co/sc. Togetyoursecuritycode,followtheinstructionsonscreen. Lostsecuritykey Ifyoursecuritykeyislost,youcanfollowthesestepstogetbackintoyouraccountandprotectit.Choosetherightstepsforyoudependingonwhetheryou’vesetupanothersecondsteplike: Verificationcodes Googleprompts Backupcodes Adifferentsecuritykeyyou’veaddedtoyouraccount Aregisteredcomputerwhereyoupreviouslychosenottobeaskedforaverificationcode Ifyouhaveanothersecondstep SignintoyourGoogleAccountwithyourpasswordandyourothersecondstep. Followthestepstoremovethelostkeyfromyouraccount. Getanewsecuritykey.Youmaywanttogetanextrakeyyoucankeepinasafeplace. Addthenewkeytoyouraccount. Ifyoudon’thaveanothersecondsteporforgotyourpassword Note:2-StepVerificationrequiresanextrasteptoproveyouownanaccount.Becauseofthisaddedsecurity,itcantakeupto3-5businessdaysforGoogletomakesureit’syoutryingtosignin. Followthestepstorecoveryouraccount.You'llbeaskedsomequestionstoconfirmit'syouraccount. Usethesetipstoanswerasbestyoucan. Youmaybeasked: Toenteranemailaddressorphonenumberwhereyoucanbereached. Toenteracodesenttoyouremailaddressorphonenumber.Thiscodehelpsmakesureyoucanaccessthatemailaddressorphonenumber. Relatedresources  GmailSecurityandPrivacySettings Wasthishelpful?Howcanweimproveit?YesNoSubmitAndroidComputeriPhone&iPadMoreNeedmorehelp?Trythesenextsteps:AsktheHelpCommunityGetanswersfromcommunityexpertstrue2-StepVerificationTurnon2-StepVerificationTurnoff2-StepVerificationSigninginwith2-StepVerificationUseasecuritykeyfor2-StepVerificationGetverificationcodeswithGoogleAuthenticatorAddorremovetrustedcomputersRemoveAppPasswordsFixcommonissueswith2-StepVerificationProtectingyourpersonalinfowith2-StepVerificationSearchClearsearchClosesearchGoogleappsMainmenuSearchHelpCentertrue70975falsefalse