You give Google your address. Your emails. Your family photos. Maybe even the arguments you have with your sibling via chat.
That is a lot of leverage for a tech company to hold. Or a hacker.
Google built the Security Checkup so you can verify who else is in on the party. It’s fast. It’s free. It sits in any browser.
Don’t ignore it.
The devices you forgot about
Start at Your devices.
The list shows every machine signed into your account right now. It gives the model, the operating system, and where it supposedly is.
See a tablet you sold two years ago? Or a phone model you don’t own?
Cut the cord. Remote disconnect works instantly.
Worried you might hit a device you’re currently using?
Waste of energy. If it is yours, you just sign in again. If it isn’t, you stopped a breach. Err on the side of panic here.
Then move to Sign-in and recovery. This is how you get back in if everything goes south. Verify your backup email. Check your phone number.
Most of us now use passkeys —PINs or fingerprints instead of typed nonsense. Review those too. If you see an authorization you don’t recognize, kill it.
Passwords are the weak link
Check Your saved passwords.
If you use Chrome on Android or desktop, Google hoards your logins here. The tool will flag weak ones. It will flag reused ones.
Because you use the same password for your banking and that obscure forum you posted on in 2012, right?
Change them. Now.
Activity and connections
There is a section for Safe Browsing.
It protects you in Chrome from bad sites. But it also sends more of your behavior data back to Mountain View.
Some people want that safety net. Some prefer the illusion of control and do their own vetting. The choice is yours, though most of us are pretty bad at vetting.
Look at Recent security activity for the last 28 days. It lists logins, recovered data, weird spikes. If you see something odd, report it. Don’t hope it fixes itself.
Finally, scrub your third-party connections.
Remember when you clicked “Login with Google” on that calorie counter app? It’s here. Or the smart fridge. Or that productivity tool you deleted six months ago but left connected.
Revoke them.
The app loses access to your Google data. You have to reapprove if you want to use it later. Which you probably won’t, because you’ve forgotten you owned the account.
Gmail housekeeping
Last stop: Gmail settings.
Check blocked addresses. Check connected accounts.
Done? Good. Your account is safer. Probably.
But remember: checking boxes once doesn’t make you immune forever. It just means you haven’t been breached today.
