Google's sign in with phone number option can help you recover your account

[harlan4096]

A couple of days ago, I told you how you can regain access to your Google account using Recovery Contacts. Let's discuss the other recovery option that Google introduced, sign in with phone number.

Now, you may wonder, didn't Google already let you sign in using a phone number? Technically, no, but you're not completely wrong about that. Up until now, Google has allowed users to sign in to their account using your username, password, and your mobile number. Your phone number is used to receive an SMS for 2-step verification. That's not very secure, because the SMS protocol lacks support for encryption. You could, and should, use an authenticator app instead.

But let's get back to using a phone number to sign in. Google will ask you to enter your phone number, which is used to search for accounts connected to that number. This is done by verifying your number with your carrier, likely via an automated text message. Then, Google will display all accounts that are connected to your phone number. Select the one you want to sign in to, and then you will be asked to enter the passcode of your previous device. This is required to verify the sign in attempt and allow access to your encrypted data.

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