This is a REAL pain seen constantly in admin communities: "I enabled 2FA and locked out my entire company." It happens more often than you think.
Why does this happen?
Admins often try to enforce security policies (like 2-Step Verification) without a proper rollout plan. Or worse, they rely on a single Super Admin account. If that account gets compromised or locked out due to a lost phone/key, the recovery process can be painfully slow and stressful.
Guanacos Tech Advice
We see this more than you’d think — security done wrong is just as dangerous as poor security. Here are a few quick best practices:
- Backup Super Admin: Always have a secondary Super Admin account with a physical security key stored in a safe place.
- Recovery Methods: Ensure you have recovery options (phone, email) set up outside of your Google Workspace environment.
- Staged Rollout: Never Turn on 2SV for "Everything" at once. Use Organizational Units (OUs) to roll it out to IT first, then leadership, then the rest.