None of your online accounts are completely safe from hackers, which is why we recommend setting up two-factor authentication or 2FA. For the uninitiated, 2FA is a process that allows web services to verify a login attempt using a secondary method to add an extra layer of security. While 2FA doesn't guarantee you complete protection from potential hackers, it's still your best bet to keep your accounts safe from bad players at work. With 2FA, you will essentially get a link to click or a code to enter when prompted to verify the login attempt. Alternatively, you can also use authenticator apps to verify.

Google's Authenticator is one of the most popular authenticator apps out there, so we highly encourage you to enable it on your new Android phone. In case you're wondering how to do it, then here's a step-by-step guide in which we'll take you through the steps involved in enabling the authenticator app on your device.

Before we begin, you'll need the Google Authenticator app installed on your phone. You can download it using the link below:

Why use an authenticator app?

While choosing a code delivery through SMS or a clickable link through email might seem more convenient, it's safer to use an authenticator app that manages and displays all your codes. This is because both text messages and emails can be easily fetched by third parties. Authenticator apps like Google Authenticator generate new 2FA passcodes every 30 seconds or so. You don't even need an internet connection to generate these codes, which is great.

Alternatively, some services allow you to confirm a prompt that's shown on your smartphone instead of entering a code. In fact, some services likes the ones from Adobe may even ask you to download an additional app for authentication.

Getting started with Google Authenticator on Android

Once you've installed the Google Authenticator app on your Android phone, you need to open it and get past the introduction screen to get started with the process. Follow the steps given below once you're done with the introduction screen to set up Google Authenticator on Android.

1. The first thing you need to do is set up your first account. You can do this either by scanning a setup code or entering the setup key that's provided to you on the settings page of the service.
2. In order to set up 2FA for your account, log in and head over to the settings page of the web service you're trying to secure. You need to enable 2FA on this screen if you haven't already, so be sure to do that.
3. Once done, simply locate the Authenticator app option within the page, and select it to begin the setup process.
4. You'll now see a QR code that you need to scan after selecting the Scan a QR code option on the app.
5. Once you scan, you'll see a 6-digit code in the app that you need to enter on the settings page of the service to enable Google authenticator login.

We showed you the settings page of a Google account for this tutorial, but the process is essentially the same for other services too. You can also add more services to the authenticator app by selecting the "+" button. There's also a list of accounts added to the app along with their two-factor authenticator passcode on this page. Notably, you'll also see an animated circle next to it to show you how much time is left before the code expires.

Moving your authenticator passcodes to a new phone

It's advised that you transfer your authenticator accounts while moving to a new device. This will ensure that you don't have to set up 2FA on those accounts again from the scratch. Here's how to do it:

1. Open the Google Authenticator app on your old phone and select the three-dot icon to open the overflow menu.
2. Now, select the Transfer accounts option followed by Export accounts.
3. Once you verify using a PIN or biometric authentication after the previous step, you'll be shown the list of accounts that are added to your app.
4. Simply select the ones you want to export and choose Next to proceed.
5. After that, you'll see a QR code that you need to scan from the app on your new device.

And that's it, you'll now see the accounts in your authenticator on the new device.

Google Authenticator alternatives

Google Authenticator is an easy-to-use authenticator app, but it has some weaknesses. For example, your accounts are not automatically synced across devices. And as you can see, you also have to manually move your accounts to a new phone, which is quite the process. This also means that losing your phone might lock you out of your accounts.

Authy is a great alternative to Google Authenticator that supports cross-device syncing. It also encrypts your account, meaning you don't have to worry about the passcodes getting leaked or seen by other parties. You can download it by using the link given below.

That's a wrap to this tutorial in which we showed you a step-by-step guide on how to set up Google Authenticator on a new device. It takes some effort to transfer your account to a new device, but you only have to do it once. You can also entirely avoid it by choosing a different app like Authy that'll automatically sync your accounts across multiple devices.