2-step verification requirement for Google Cloud

Google Cloud strives to provide its customers with the strongest security possible. We prioritize protecting your identity, to help keep your account and sensitive information safe. To help keep this commitment, Google is phasing in the requirement that all Google Cloud customers enable 2-step verification (2SV) for their accounts.

Also known as multifactor authentication (MFA), 2SV is an important security measure. In addition to your password, 2SV requires another proof of identity, known as an authentication factor, to successfully sign in to an account. Requiring an additional factor makes it much harder for your account to be compromised by hackers. Even if your password is stolen, hackers still need an additional factor to be able to access your account.

If you're using a Google Account and have already enabled 2SV, you don't need to take further action. You can check whether 2SV is enabled for your account by opening the Security tab of your Google Account settings page. The 2-Step Verification setting is displayed in the How you sign in to Google section.

If you're using a third-party identity provider (IdP) to manage single sign-on (SSO) into Google Cloud, you can use the 2SV provided by that IdP to comply with Google Cloud's 2SV requirement.

If you have questions that aren't answered in this document, contact Cloud Customer Care.

Interfaces that require 2SV

When 2SV is required for specific account types in your organization, those accounts must have 2SV enabled to access the following Google Cloud interfaces:

User accounts that don't have 2SV enabled are prompted to set it up before they can proceed to these interfaces.

Access to the following interfaces and services is not affected by the Google Cloud 2SV requirement:

  • Google Workspace, including Gmail, Google Drive, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. However, Google Workspace has a separate 2SV requirement. Contact your Google Workspace administrator for more information.

  • YouTube.

Your applications and workloads running on Google Cloud, including applications secured by Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP), aren't affected by the 2SV requirement. However, your developers won't be able to use the Google Cloud console to manage those applications. In other words, your control plane is affected by the 2SV requirement, but not your data plane.

Other Google Cloud interfaces like the gcloud CLI don't have a 2SV requirement. However, after a user account enables 2SV, 2SV becomes part of the account's regular sign-in flow. For example, if you enable 2SV for your account and then authenticate for the gcloud CLI, you are prompted for your second factor as part of the sign-in process.

Timelines for 2SV requirement

When you need to enable 2SV for your user account in Google Cloud depends on your account type, as shown in the following table.

Account type Description Requirement start date
Personal Google Accounts User accounts you created for your own use, including Gmail accounts, that are used as principals in Google Cloud. On or after May 12, 2025
Enterprise Cloud Identity accounts (not using SSO) User accounts with usernames and passwords created and managed by your Google Workspace administrator in Cloud Identity. On or after October 20, 2026
Enterprise accounts using federated authentication User accounts created and managed by your Google Workspace administrator that use Google Workspace SSO, Cloud Identity SSO, or Workforce Identity Federation. To be announced
Reseller accounts User accounts created and managed in a Google Cloud reseller domain. End users of the reseller are not affected. On or after April 28, 2025

If you don't have 2SV enabled, an email reminder is sent at least 90 days before the 2SV requirement starts. The Google Cloud console also begins displaying reminders 90 days before the 2SV requirement starts.

For resellers and their users, the Google Cloud console displays reminders to enable 2SV at least 60 days before, and leading up to the 2SV requirement. Similarly, an email reminder is sent at least 60 days before the 2SV requirement starts.

User accounts added after the 2SV requirement is enabled for an organization don't receive reminders, and are prompted to enable 2SV to access the Google Cloud console or the Firebase console.

Enable 2SV for Google Accounts

You can enable 2SV on the Security tab of your Google Account settings page. For step-by-step instructions, see Turn on 2-Step Verification.

If you don't see the 2-Step Verification option for your account, your administrator might have disabled it. Contact your administrator for assistance.

Additional factors for Google Accounts

Personal Google Accounts and enterprise accounts that use Google as their identity provider (IdP) can use any of the following additional factors with Google Cloud:

  • Authenticator apps: you can set up an authenticator application, such as Google Authenticator, or Authy, on your mobile or desktop device to act as your second factor.

  • Backup codes: you can create backup codes and use them as your second factor. Backup codes must be stored securely, and can be used only once, so this method should be used only when you have no other method available. For more information, see Sign in with backup codes.

  • Google Prompts: if you are signed into your Google Account on another device, you can receive a prompt on that device asking you whether it is you signing in. You can confirm that it's you in a browser, on a tablet, or your phone. For more information, see Sign in with Google prompts.

  • Physical security key: you can touch a physical security key to provide your second factor. For more information, see Use a security key for 2-Step Verification.

  • SMS codes: you can use a code sent to your phone number as a second factor. Before you can use SMS as a second factor, your phone number must be associated with your Google Account.

Enable 2SV in Google Workspace

Google Workspace administrators can deploy 2-step verification for their users, which is recognized by Google Cloud.

Enable 2SV for third-party identity providers

Refer to your third-party IdP's documentation to learn how to enable 2SV.

Recover account access if a factor is lost or stolen

See Fix common issues with 2-Step verification for steps to recover your account.

Monitor 2SV conformance

Administrators can monitor user account 2SV conformance when they interact with the Google Cloud console in Logs Explorer:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Logs Explorer page:

    Go to Logs Explorer

  2. Select your organization.

  3. Pick a time range for the logs you want to query.

  4. Add the following query:

    jsonPayload.@type="type.googleapis.com/google.identity.mfaforall.LogEntry"
    
  5. Click Run query.

You can filter the log results using the Fields pane. Alternatively, you can expand your query to require other fields, such as in the following example:

jsonPayload.@type="type.googleapis.com/google.identity.mfaforall.LogEntry"
jsonPayload.enforcementState="ENFORCEMENT_STATE_UPCOMING_ENFORCEMENT"
jsonPayload.userEmail: "PRINCIPAL_IDENTIFIER"
jsonPayload.mfaEligibility: "MFA_ELIGIBILITY_ELIGIBLE"

For the fields you can filter by and their definitions, see Understand conformance log entries.

Understand conformance log entries

Conformance log entries look similar to the following:

{
  insertId: "00000000"
  jsonPayload: {
    @type: "type.googleapis.com/google.identity.mfaforall.LogEntry"
    enforcementState: "ENFORCEMENT_STATE_UPCOMING_ENFORCEMENT"
    mfaEligibility: "MFA_ELIGIBILITY_ELIGIBLE"
    userEmail: "PRINCIPAL_IDENTIFIER"
  }
  logName: "organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/logs/mfaforall.googleapis.com%2Fmfa_conformance_check"
  receiveTimestamp: "2026-06-02T21:52:21.150677295Z"
  resource: {
    labels: {
      location: "global"
      resource_container: "organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID"
    }
    type: "mfaforall.googleapis.com/Location"
  }
  severity: "INFO"
  timestamp: "2026-06-02T21:52:20.838Z"
}

The following fields can help you to monitor 2SV conformance for user accounts:

  • userEmail: This key's value is the principal identifier for the monitored user account, which is an email address.

  • mfaEligibility: This key's value is one of following:

    • MFA_ELIGIBILITY_ELIGIBLE: The user account is eligible for the 2SV requirement.

    • MFA_ELIGIBILITY_INELIGIBLE: The user account is blocked from enrolling in 2SV due to their organization's policy settings in Google Workspace.

    • MFA_ELIGIBILITY_UNSPECIFIED: The user account's eligibility for the 2SV requirement is unknown. This value is returned when the user is authenticated through a third-party IdP using single sign-on.

  • enforcementState: This key's value is one of the following:

    • ENFORCEMENT_STATE_UPCOMING_ENFORCEMENT: The user account is in the reminder window for the 2SV requirement.

    • ENFORCEMENT_STATE_ENFORCED: 2SV is required for this user account. Users attempting to access the Google Cloud console or the Firebase console are prompted to enable 2SV to continue.

    • ENFORCEMENT_STATE_MFA_COMPLIANT: The user is compliant with the 2SV requirement.

    • ENFORCEMENT_STATE_NO_ENFORCEMENT_ORG_OPTED_OUT: The organization is opted out of the 2SV requirement. The user account doesn't require 2SV.

    • ENFORCEMENT_STATE_NO_ENFORCEMENT_SSO_USER: The user authenticated through a third-party IdP using single sign-on, and 2SV must be managed there.

Cloud Identity: extend the deadline for the 2SV requirement

Organizations that use Enterprise Cloud Identity (non-SSO) and were created before the 2SV requirement can enable a one-time, 90-day extension to the 2SV requirement at the organization level in the Google Cloud console.

To do so, principals with the Organization Administrator (roles/resourcemanager.organizationAdmin) role must complete the following steps:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Organizations page.

    Go to Organizations

  2. Select your organization.

  3. In the 2SV notification, click Extend by 90 days, and then confirm the extension. It might take a few minutes for the change to take effect.

After the extension expires, the 2SV requirement is reenabled.

Cloud Identity: opt out of the 2SV requirement

We don't recommend opting out of the 2SV requirement. However, organizations that use Enterprise Cloud Identity (non-SSO) can choose to opt out of the requirement at the organization level in the Google Cloud console. Opting out only bypasses the 2SV requirement; it doesn't disable 2SV for users who already have it enabled, and users can still enable 2SV for themselves.

Principals with the Organization Administrator (roles/resourcemanager.organizationAdmin) role at the organization level can opt out of the 2SV requirement by completing the following steps:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Organizations page.

    Go to Organizations

  2. Select your organization.

  3. Disable Enforce 2SV. It might take a few minutes for the settings change to take effect.

After an organization has opted out of the 2SV requirement, users with 2SV disabled are no longer required to enable it to use the Google Cloud console or the Firebase console.

Opt back in to 2SV

If you choose to opt in to 2SV again, a minimum 30-day grace period takes place before 2SV is required.