Google Account Security: How to Know if Someone Else Has Access

Google’s collection of online tools helps many people who use the internet today in many ways. If you have an active digital life, you are more likely to have a Google account and use one or more Google apps. There is also a good chance that you keep some private data in it. Therefore, it is important that you should be the only one who can access it.

Using a strong password and avoiding phishing scams are some ways to safeguard your Google account. Unfortunately, despite your best efforts to protect it, scammers will always devise new ways to gain access. The situation will be worse if you use the same password across your Google accounts. This means that scammers can access your personal information, emails, and files.

Luckily, you don’t have to wait for Google to alert you that someone else is accessing your account. That would mean the break-in has already happened and worse, you could even miss the alert. There is a more effective way to catch the intruder through Google’s security system. The system allows you to view all the devices that have accessed your account, as well as their times and locations.

How to View All Devices that are Signed In to Your Google Account

1. Click on “Manage your Google Account” > “Security” > “Manage all Devices” (under “Your Devices” tab).
2. Every device that has accessed your Google account in the last 28 days will be right there.
3. Check to see if you don’t recognize any device in the list.
4. If you recognize all the devices, then it’s all good. But if you see one that looks new to you, click on it to reveal more details.
5. Google will provide you with the device’s recent location, operating system, time of access, the browser, or the app that was used.
6. To protect your account, sign out and change your password with a strong one as soon as possible.

As soon as you change your password, Google will sign you out of all the devices. This will stop the intruder from having access to your Google account.