what to know
- On the first phone, go to profile icon > Email address > Allow saving your code online.
- Then, log in to the same Google account on the new phone. Your 2FA code is available immediately.
- Another way is to export the code: Menu > Transfer Account > Export Account .
This article explains how to transfer all Google Authenticator accounts from one phone to another.
There are two easy ways to do this that don't require you to re-add all your accounts.
Google lets you back up your authenticator codes to your Google account, making it easy to transfer all your codes to a new phone. The only problem is that you have to turn on this backup option. Follow these steps to get a Google Authenticator code on your new phone now:
On your old phone, open Google Authenticator and tap the profile icon at the top.
If the little cloud icon is green (not gray), your code is backed up and you can skip to step 4.
Click your email address from the menu.
Select Allow when prompted to save the code to your Google Account.
On your new phone, open Google Authenticator and sign in to the same Google Account you used on your old phone; click your profile icon to switch accounts). All identical accounts will appear immediately (if you don't see them, close and reopen Authenticator).
Another method is to export the account. If the other phone uses a different Google Account, or you plan to use Authenticator without an account, you can move the Google Authenticator code to the other phone. Here's how to export your Google Authenticator account:
On your old phone, tap Menu > Transfer Account > Export Account . You will see a QR code.
On the new phone, go to the menu > Transfer Account > Import Account > Scan the QR code .
Point your camera at the QR code on your old phone. You will see a success message indicating how many accounts were copied; click OK .
At this point, you are done and can close both applications. However, if you click "Next" on your old phone, you will have the option to delete the exported account. The choice is yours, but unless you keep both devices, we recommend removing these codes (just make sure they work on your new phone first!).
