Currently many websites include a security option called Two-step verification, a security method that makes your account need a code to log in. Among the most popular applications to generate this code is the Google Authenticator app. However, this application is only available on Android and iOS operating systems, officially you will not find it on Windows. However, we are going to teach you how to use an alternative to the Google Authenticator application so that you can download it to your Windows PC.
So that you can use Google Authenticator, we are going to share an application to download to your computer that will work as an alternative to the mobile app. This computer program carries the name of WinAuth, is an application developed so that you can use the two-step verification system on your Windows computer.
Download Google Authenticator on PC
WinAuth is a very light application what can you download for free from the official website on Github. Within its website we only have to go to the Download section, and locate the most stable version that has been updated. So far the last update was developed in 2016 and is version 3.5.1.
Before downloading the WinAuth program It is necessary that you have Windows 7, 8 or 10. And also, you must have installed the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5. In this way the program will work correctly.
How to install and use Google Authenticator on PC with WinAuth
Once downloaded, we will have a .ZIP file which will have the application executor inside. When opening said program we will find the following window:
If we click on "Add", we will see a list of options that you can use to "create" or "import" your two-step verification. In this case, we will choose the Google option.
Then, the following window will open where we can configure our Google Authenticator. Among the options we have to choose the name and the authentication icon, which are to your liking. And below, we have the boxes where we must fill in the secret code, to authenticate our Google account with the application.
To find our secret code we must go to the configuration of our Google account. Then we go to the section of Security and we look for the option of "Two-step verification”.
Then it will ask us for the password of our account and it will take us to a page where we can choose which option to use, among all they must choose Authenticator App.
It will ask us if we use Android or iPhone, they can choose any option since it is indifferent. Then, we are going to choose the option "Can't scan it?", So that you can give us the Secret code.
Later, we will introduce the secret code in the WinAuth application. Then we click on "Verify Authenticator”And below a code will begin to be updated every 30 seconds, this code must be entered in the next step that Google gives us to configure the Authenticator.
Once you have entered the code that WinAuth gives us in the configuration of your Google account, you will have correctly configured the Google Authenticator from your PC. From now on you can use the Authenticator to log in.
Configure WinAuth protection
As the last step in WinAuth, we will be asked configure application protection.
The protections consist of three ways: password to access WinAuth, encrypt your data so that only from your computer you can use the program, and finally you can enter a Yubikey.
You can choose to configure all the options, just one or none, This depends on you. However, we recommend that you choose carefully, because if for example you choose to set a password, if you forget it, you will not be able to recover it in the future.
Conclution
WinAuth is an interesting option for avoid having to set your mobile phone as Two-Step Verification on websites like Google, Steam, Microsoft or any other. So you can have your access to Google Authenticator on your PC quickly and without complications.