Bitcoin Forum

Hello,
I'm in trouble and I need help from someone who has some knowledge on recovering Google Authenticator.

I have an Android phone and I had installed Google Authenticator app on it. I used it to generate 2FA codes for many websites (Not google, but other sites like some exchanges).

My phone recently stopped working and I had to 'factory-reset' it which wiped my Authenticator app.
I installed it again on same phone but it does not have any of my previous accounts I had setup before the wipe.

Now I am locked out of all sites and exchanges that requires 2FA code.
What should I do to recover my Access Codes for these sites?

Any help will be much appreciated, I am in real trouble if I don't get this sorted out.

The only way to recover is contact all the sites who's 2fa you'd setup and they will reset upon providing valid info asked by them. other than this no way to recover.

There's no way to recover google auth keys, Use Authy from next time it's much better.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I have started contacting the exchanges regarding this.

Cryptsy was very fast in support. They asked some questions to verify my identity which I answered correctly and my account access has been restored.
Thanks Cryptsy!

Now I need to see how the process goes for other sites.

Hoping for the best.

Just to update everyone: I was able to recover all my accounts.

For some exchanges, I raised support requests and after asking a few questions and verifying account details they disabled 2FA on my account.
Cryptsy, Bittrex were very fast and responsive in support - thanks guys!

For some others, I was able to extract access keys from an old backup of my phone generated via CWM recovery tool. Thanks god I had made a backup.
This includes BitStamp and few others.

HitBTC, Poloniex and Unocoin responded AFTER I found my backup keys and my issue was resolved. Not something I would call a prompt response.

Coinsecure was lazy, but eventually did their job in few days.

Everything is good now.


An advice to everyone:
If you're using Google Authenticator app to access many sites other than your Google account, please make a copy of your access keys database using a root explorer.
There are very good instructions on web on how to do that.

This just happened to me, and authy's support is telling my 3 of my accounts were "not there".

So I am hesitant to recommend authy as the solution.

I might have backed up what I am missing, but can't find it readily.

For example, using Total Commander, under Titanium backup, there is an authy file, but I can't open it.

Help!

Poloniex has responded right away and has resolved the issue.

Am still waiting for some direction from PrimeDice and Just-Dice.

I am tempted never to use Authy again, this has been such a PITA.

EDIT:  found another account that was dropped by Authy that I have to recover.
I will never use them again.

You don't need any file to restore authy, you just need to login using the same mobile number and you'll get all your 2fa accounts there.

I would like to advise that no matter what service you use, you should note down the key somewhere outside of your phone.
When you do a clean install of the app on new device or on a wiped device, you can recover the account by providing the key. Or even copy teh JPG of the QR code somewhere.

https://i.imgur.com/a8hCxm4.jpg

For rooted android device, it is relatively easy to find all keys by digging into the root folders, but it is better to just note them down while setting up 2FA for any account.

Authy sucks bigtime, works half of the time and the support is wack...

Yeah, I thought so, too.
New phone, same number, logged in -  4 accounts missing!
Authy says, "too bad, we don't have them.."

This is what I am trying to confirm...old rooted phone has the keys, I believe....somewhere...

Lesson learned, as eXpl0sive states - have a backup copy of the keys. :-\

Use a root file explorer app (like ES File Manager) and navigate to this folder on your android device:
/data/data/com.google.android.apps.authenticator2/databases/databases

Copy the files to your computer and use free SQLite reader (http://sqlitebrowser.org/) to open the file. It will show the keys in plain text form.

Sigh, I am having this nightmare now.

Hi I am facing this issue now. I have my phone repaired and wiped off all the data including Google Authenticator. Please if you could advise me the best way ahead now.

There other way you can try since i use it till now. First you make GA for any site by sacnning the barcode.
Then if you have 2 device, then try to scan the same barcode so you have 2 different GA in 2 different device and both GA in both device will work.
Or you try this, after scanning the barcode then you screenshoot the barcode and keep it well. If you loss the GA from device then you can scan the barcode from the screenshoot. It work. I did try it.
Hope this will help anyone.

GA is such a useful tool but it can be such a nuisance if you lose your device.

Yes this is a very common problem with authentic storms I think they should be linked with our email ids and we should be able to recover the authenticator if the old one is lost.

so there is no other way than to contact all the sites to disable 2FA. Its a painful process :(

Yes, if you don't have a backup of the original keys and you lost / formatted your phone, there is no way other than contacting the support on all sites and prove your identity so that they can disable your 2FA.

I'm dealing with the same issue with Coinbase and their support is horrible. The minute I get my access back, I am moving all my coins off Coinbase. 3 months of emails and calls to their support department and NOTHING has been done!

Ouch, I never thought about how bad it would be to lose your Google Authenticator. You would think they have an easier to recover than this.

This is why I have printed and backed up all of Google two-factor authentication origin codes. They're very important if you lose your phone or need to reset your phone, dealing with restoring on each website is a serious pain and you might run the risk of the website denying you access at all again.