Two-factor Verification on Twitter: How to Use Google Authenticator

Two-factor verification is one of the systems that the vast majority of services and applications have been incorporating to offer users greater security when it comes to protecting their accounts. However, the fact that we have to have our phone number associated means that through different techniques, an attacker can duplicate our SIM and access the security code sent by SMS to our phone number. In this sense, Twitter has allowed activating two-step verification without a phone number for a while, but if you want even more security, we will show you how to do it with Google Authenticator below .

Long ago the popular microblogging network incorporated two-step or two-factor verification to protect users’ security and privacy. Initially it was through an SMS, but later it incorporated the option to make use of certain applications such as Google Authenticator. In any case, it was still necessary to have a phone number in our account.

But over time, Twitter has made it possible to use a two-factor verification system through an external system such as Google, without having to have our phone number associated with our Twitter account. Something that at the same time allows us to delete this information from our profile if we prefer.

twitter verification

To do this, all we have to do is open the Twitter app on our mobile phone or access our profile from the browser, tap on the photo of our profile or menu button, select the Configuration and privacy option and then enter In Account, tap on the Telephone field and select the option Delete telephone number.

In order to activate the two-factor verification system on Twitter with Google Authenticator, we can have our phone number associated with the network profile or not, which we prefer.

2FA verification on Twitter with Google Authenticator

To use the Google tool in the two-step verification process on our Twitter account, the first thing we have to have is install the app on our mobile phone. If we do not have it yet, we can download it from the following links for iOS and Android devices .

Next, we have everything ready to configure or activate double factor verification on Twitter through Google Authenticator. For this, these are the steps we must follow:

  • We open the Twitter app on mobile.
  • We tap on our profile picture.
  • We enter Settings and privacy .

Twitter

  • We tap on the Account option.
  • We select the Security option.
  • Next we touch on the Authentication option in two phases.
  • This will show us the three options that Twitter allows, by SMS, authentication app or security key. In this case, we check the Authentication application option.

Twitter

  • We tap on Start .
  • We enter the password of our Twitter account to identify ourselves as the owner of it and click on Verify.
  • If everything went well, the next thing is to press the Link app now button.
  • A message will appear to confirm that we want to save the password for our Twitter account in Google Authenticator. Click on Accept .

  • The authentication code for Twitter will automatically be saved in Google Authenticator.

From now on, when we try to log in to our Twitter account, the method to confirm the verification of two factors will be through the code generated by the Google tool. In this case, the operation will be the same whether we have saved the phone number in our profile or not.