Travel - Google Account: login from abroad with no phone (gmail, etc)
Date: 2024feb2
Q. Google Account: login from abroad with no phone (gmail, etc)
A. Lets say you were robbed of all your electronics abroad:
your phone / laptop/ tablet were taken.
If you wanted to login to your gmail from an internet cafe (if they still exist)
or from a new phone... how could you?
If you remembered your password, gmail would ask for some secondary
verification. It might want to send a SMS or try another way.
Probably none of them would work in your situation.
But there is a way - backup codes!
Before you travel, download your backup codes and save them in
a safe place (that isn't on in the google-sphere). Like:
- Print them out and keep with your passport
- Print them out and give it to a travel companion
- Give them to a trusted person at home
- Save them on your VPS (virtual private server)
- etc
You might want to save your regular gmail password with those codes too.
Now, when you login into gmail from an internet cafe in Marrakesh
you can use a backup code as your secondary authentication.
That will get you into Google Drive, Google Calendar too of course.
By the way, it would be a good idea to login from an Incognito session
at the internet cafe.
Where you get your backup codes
Stock image of a Marrakesh internet cafe