Two-factor auth locked me out of my email for 6 hours on a Sunday

Swapped phones last month and forgot my authenticator app was tied to the old one. Tried to log into my main email around 9am, got the 2FA prompt, and realized I had no backup codes saved anywhere. Spent the whole morning on hold with support, then rediscovered the recovery email I set up in 2019 but it had its own 2FA loop. Finally at 3pm I found a printed list of codes in an old filing cabinet from when I first set up the account. Now I keep a screenshot of my backup codes in a password manager AND a physical notebook. How often do you actually test your recovery options before you need them?

1 comments

1 Comment

rayy8318d ago

Wait, you had a printed list of codes in a filing cabinet and still forgot about it for six hours? That's wild. Props to you for being that organized on accident, I guess.