Why recovery codes need extra care
Recovery codes are the spare key to an account. Anyone who has your password and one of these codes can sign in without your phone or security key. That makes them worth more to an attacker than the password alone.
Common reasons to share them
- Handing over an account. A shared company account, such as a social media or domain registrar login, moves to a new owner.
- Emergency access. A partner or colleague should be able to get into an account if you can’t.
- Moving them to a safe place. You want the codes on another device without leaving them in your email.
Good habits
- One link per account. Then you know exactly which codes were opened.
- A short timer. One hour or one day is enough. An unread link deletes itself.
- Check it arrived. Your manage link shows when it was opened. If it says opened and the recipient never saw it, generate new codes in the service.
- Regenerate after a handover. When someone leaves, create a fresh set of codes so the old ones stop working.