People often overlook a crucial step while setting up a Google account—ways to get back into the account, should they ever forget their password, lose their method of two-factor authentication, or have their phone stolen. Or if their account gets hacked.

Setting up recovery info is especially important if you use your Google account as a central spot for coordinating your life—not just digital accounts, but fundamental daily services like utilities and banking.

Fortunately, taking this step (or at least, checking that it’s already done) only takes minutes. Here’s how to do it.

Set a recovery email address (and/or phone number)

Go to myaccount.google.com/security , then scroll down to How you sign into Google .

Near the bottom, find Recovery phone and Recovery email . Click the

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