Google offers recovery using a previously enrolled selfie video for some accounts. Availability depends on region, account, and device, and it requires setup before you lose access.
Check whether enrollment is available
Open Google Account Security & sign-in and look for Selfie video under the sign-in options. Google’s current guide excludes Workspace accounts, child accounts, and accounts in Advanced Protection from adding recovery selfie videos.
A missing option is not a reason to change your birthday or location. You cannot enroll a recovery selfie while locked out or already in account recovery.
Read the privacy choices before recording
Review the explanation presented by Google. The current guide describes an optional setting allowing use of the video and related data to improve services such as facial recognition, age estimation, and verification. That optional improvement setting can be changed later from the selfie-video page.
Do not assume that opting into recovery automatically requires opting into every optional improvement use. Read the choices actually shown for your account.
Complete enrollment through the account
- Select the selfie-video setup and continue.
- Allow the necessary camera access in the trusted browser or device.
- Follow the requested movements and recording instructions.
- Check the account’s confirmation that enrollment completed.
Keep your face visible and other people’s faces out of the background. If the computer has no camera, Google’s guide describes a possible QR handoff to another device. Use only the QR code generated by your own official setup session.
Understand recovery and deletion
During recovery, Google may ask for a new short video and compare it with the enrolled one. Enrollment does not guarantee that this method will appear in every future challenge.
Deleting the recovery selfie removes that sign-in option. Google says deletion is not necessarily immediate and that security or policy-related retention can apply. Avoid claiming that removing the setting instantly erases every associated record.
Selfie checks for unlocking a product feature or creating an avatar are separate uses discussed in Google’s guide. Review the purpose of the exact prompt, and keep an independent recovery method instead of relying on one facial-verification option.
Official references
Reviewed against Google’s official guidance on October 27, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.