google_logo1Google has added a new password recovery option for recovering your Google account. Through this option, now users can now associate their preferred mobile phone number with their Google account and Google will send a recovery code by SMS. The rationale behind this move was that since people these days frequently use cell phones so it would be wise to include mobile phone numbers in the password recovery process. Google stated:

It’s a busy world out there, and even the best of us forget our passwords from time to time. But we don’t want this to get in the way when you need to access your account. We also want to make sure that only you can access your account. Since most people use cell phones these days, we decided text messaging would be an easy, convenient addition to our password recovery options.

In order to use this feature, you need to login to your Google account, go to the Password Recovery options in which you will be needed to specify your mobile phone number and current password. Just click on the Save button and you are done. According to Google:

To set up password recovery via your mobile phone, just sign in to your account and click Change Password Recovery Options. Enter your mobile phone number and current password and then click Save. If you lose access to your account for any reason, you’ll be able to regain access by entering a code we’ll send in a text message.

Sadly, this option is available to US based users currently. However, Google has stated that they are working to bring this feature at a global level.

Besides this, Google took advantage of the opportunity and encouraged its valued users to provide maximum account recovery information as well as updated information. So all those users who provided their recovery email address as the one which is no longer in use are advised to update this information as soon as possible.