Close-Up With Google’s New QR Code Generator At first blush, generating a QR code while shortening a URL seems like a great idea. If you need to generate unique QR Codes for your printed or ...

First, turn on two-factor authentication for the account. You'll get a QR code or setup key. Next, open the Google ...

Released on Monday for iOS and Android, the latest version of Google Authenticator lets you back up and sync your one-time 2FA codes to your Google account via the cloud.

Earlier this week, Google updated its Authenticator app to enable the backup and syncing of 2FA codes across devices using a Google Account. Now an examination by Mysk security researchers has ...

Google Authenticator now syncs one-time codes with your account, so you're not stuck if you lose your device.

Google isn’t the only firm offering 2FA sign-in codes to provide backups. Since 2019, Microsoft has allowed people to use a “backup and restore” tool for its Microsoft Authenticator app.

Google later added a more pleasant code-transfer system in which the copy of Authenticator on your old phone generates a QR code that you scan with Authenticator on your new device.

An update to Google Authenticator this week finally enabled backups for your two-factor authentication codes. But the feature comes with a security risk.

Google has said it's planning to stop sending 2FA codes via text message to verify Gmail accounts in favor of security tools such as passkeys and QR codes that you would scan with your device.

With SMS an unsecure method of authentication, Google is eyeing a more robust solution with QR codes.