

If everything is done correctly, Google will show you a confirmation window informing you. Just click the “OK” button to save the changes to your Google account. If you’re concerned about a third-party app stealing or leaking your code, try WinAuth . Its main attraction is that it is an open source application that you can download to your PC. As such, there is no obfuscated code or cloud storage that can leak your key.Ĭonfiguration with WinAuth is very easy. Once WinAuth is running, add a new Google account.Įnter your private key, then click the “Verify authenticator” button. Continue with your Google account setup and enter the code that WinAuth provides.Ĭopy the generated one-time password and paste it into your Google security settings page and click the “Verify and save” button to verify the generated code.

Setting up Google Authenticator on PC using WinAuth Now that we have the code, let’s see where we can put it. On the next page, find the secret key and copy it. This is what you will enter into third-party applications when they request a key. However, be sure to keep it a secret. If someone else gets this information, they can use it to log into your account!

If Google knows that you have a phone connected to your account, it will walk you through the steps to set up a basic phone notification service.Īfter you have completed the steps, you will have the opportunity to configure the Authenticator app. While we are not going to download the actual application, we must pretend that we are obtaining the secret key. Click on “Configure”.įollow the prompts until it asks you to scan a QR code. Below the code, click “Can’t scan it?” To get the secret code, go to the Google Account Security Page . Go to the “Sign in to Google” section and click on “Two-Step Verification”.

To do this, you will need the “secret code” for Google Authenticator. This is the seed from which code generators can create code that works with Google. In this article, we’ll explore how to set up Google Authenticator on your PC and how to use it to secure your online accounts. While Google Authenticator is most commonly used on mobile devices, there are ways to use it on a PC as well. This technology makes it harder for hackers to access accounts even if they have the login credentials, as they would also need access to the user’s phone to generate the TOTP. Google Authenticator is a popular two-factor authentication application that provides an extra layer of security to online accounts by generating time-based one-time passwords (TOTP).
