Common questions about the Advanced Protection Programme.

People whose accounts contain particularly valuable files or sensitive information should consider Advanced Protection. Google strongly recommends that journalists, activists, business executives and people involved in elections enrol.

If you’re at high risk for targeted online attacks, we recommend enrolling both your work and personal accounts, and possibly even your family members’ accounts.

If you have a Google Workspace account (an organisational Google Account), you can enrol it individually with admin approval. Start the enrolment process to see if your admin has already enabled Advanced Protection. If not, speak to your admin directly.

Yes. In fact, we recommend enrolling all of the accounts in any organisation that might be targeted, such as a campaign; a political, journalist or activist group; or an election-related organisation.

The Advanced Protection Programme is a free service.

In order to enrol, you can use a passkey on your personal device or you can purchase a security key. You'll also need to add recovery options to avoid getting locked out.

You'll need at least one passkey or FIDO-compliant security key, like Google's Titan Security Key, when you enrol and sign in to your Google Account. You have the option to enrol with any of following configurations as your primary and secondary security factors:

• Two passkeys or security keys
• One passkey and one security key
• One passkey or security key and recovery options, like a recovery phone and email

Yes. Add an email and phone number to your Google Account, so that it's easy to recover if you get locked out.

Most of your day-to-day account activity will not feel different.

• The biggest change will be that your passkey or your security key will be required when you sign in to your account.
• You may find that you receive more alerts or warnings before downloading a file or installing an app. Strong protections against malware are built into all Google products, such as Google Play Store and Google Chrome, but Advanced Protection performs even more stringent checks.
• A number of account security features that were optional will be automatically turned on and kept on for your account.

Passkeys are the simplest and most secure way to sign in to your Google Account, verifying it’s you with just your fingerprint, face scan or screen lock — no password needed. Passkeys can never be guessed or reused, helping keep your private information secure against attackers. Passkeys can also be created on FIDO 2 compliant physical security keys.

You’ll need at least one passkey or one security key set up on your account to enroll in Advanced Protection.

A security key is a physical key that you use to sign in to your account, just as you would have for your house or car. When you sign in with a security key, you plug in or touch the key to your device.

Google Accounts that use passkeys or security keys are much safer from attacks than accounts that only have a password. You'll need at least one passkey or security key set up on your account to enrol in Advanced Protection.

Types of keys

Passkeys use the built-in security features of your personal device, like your fingerprint, face scan or other screen lock. Passkeys can also be created on FIDO 2-compliant physical security keys.

There are many kinds of hardware security keys. You might plug a USB key into your device, keep a Bluetooth key nearby or hold an NFC key close to your device when you sign in.

You can purchase Google's Titan Security Key or any key that supports the FIDO 2 open standard. FIDO 1 keys can also be used to enrol in Advanced Protection, but you will still need to additionally enter your password when signing in.

You'll need your passkey or your security key to sign in to your Google Account. Remember to bring your passkey (which is on your device) or your security key with you when you travel.

If you lose your passkey or security key and are still signed in on one of your devices, visit account.google.com to add or replace a key. Otherwise, submit a request to recover your account. Google may take a few days to verify that it's you and restore your access.