If you are using gmail and If you want to improve security of your google account to ensure no one can hack into your account then 2-step verification is the solution that is provided by google for you, and I bet you that it would be twice harder for a hacker to hack your account than the normal process.
The two steps in process
1. Entering the Password.
2. Entering the Code that you receive in your mobile.
So, By Opting in to this 2-step verification you have to enter password as well as the code that is instantly received to your mobile when you are trying to login into your gmail account.
There are also some other options like
- Remembering the browser in device for next 30 days so that you need not enter the code as part of 2-step as the device is registered for 30 days.
- You can set up a back up code so that you can enter the back up code when your mobile is not reachable or for any other reasons.
Things you should know before setting up 2-step Verification :
Some applications that you are using now cannot ask for 2-step verification codes to be entered in that case you have to generate an application specific password and use that application specific password in order to enable that application to use your google account.
Examples of such applications include:
- Apps on smartphones such as Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, etc.
- AdWords Editor
- Email Clients like Microsoft Outlook , Evolutions, etc.
- Google Voice mobile application on iPhone
- Chat clients like Google Talk, AIM, etc.
In these case as said , you need to use application specific password instead of your account password and it is an easy process to generate an application specific password and you can generate as many as you want.
How to Enable or Disable 2-Step verification ?
To Enable or Disable 2-step verification open Google Account Settings Page by just clicking on the link or you can access from Gmail by opening
Settings > Accounts and import > Other Google Account Settings
When you open your Other Google Account Settings, Then you can see whether your 2-step verification process is turned on or off. You can enable or disable it here.
You can edit the options for the 2-step verification by following edit link shown at 2-step. The options page will look like
That is how you can enhance security of your google account by signing up for two step verification process , There by protecting all your google products and it would be very useful for webmasters as there are many hackers trying to hack your blogger page or google site page etc.,
The only thing you should remember is , When you turn on 2-step verification and use the password that you are trying to login into applications like , Gtalk or Outlook the password you entered will not work as they cannot ask you for two step verification. When you want to use such applications like Gtalk you have to create application specific passwords.
Hope you liked the article.
Update : Now Google knows that there is a problem of being locked out of your Gmail account and gives a notification to add a back up phone and back up codes.
Hi Pavan,
Could u pls tell me how to turn off 2 step verification code without signing in the account?Actually I have lost my mobile and this account is important for me.I dont have the back up codes for this account as well as backup phone number. So,is there any such options to retrieve my account?I have already filled up auto recovery form and it asked me to wait for 3-5 days.Pls help me..if u know any procedure.my mail account, which is blocked is [email protected].
Thanks and regards,
Sridipta