It happens. Maybe you've forgotten your password, you haven’t set up passkeys, or maybe you don't remember the answer to a very specific challenge question you selected in 2013 — and now you're locked out of your Google account and can't access any of your emails, calendar, or saved locations on Google Maps.

Getting locked out of your account is frustrating and time consuming, especially since recovery can take days or longer if your identity needs to be verified. We take pride in the fact that we keep more people safe online than anyone in the world — and since phishing attempts continue to be a major cybersecurity issue, we want to make sure that if someone is trying to access your account, it’s actually you.

Fortunately, there are two easy steps you can take now to prepare in case you ever get locked out of your account: setting up a recovery email and phone number.