Technology giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook among others have always advocated enabling two-step verification to add more security. If you still don’t use two-step verification, we recommend enabling the security feature following these simple steps for many popular services. Facebook-owned WhatsApp is the latest in the list of services to add support for two-step verification.
The new two-step verification is optional but your WhatsApp account is probably the one you want to secure first. The company assures that once two-step verification enabled, any attempt to verify phone number on WhatsApp will require the six-digit passcode that is created by the user.
Currently, the two-step verification feature is available only for beta users, we can expect it to be rolled out to all users in coming weeks. On Android, beta app users running version 2.16.341 or above will be able to enable the two-step verification. Windows 10 Mobile beta user, running version 2.16.280 of WhatsApp can enable the security feature.
To set up two-step verification for WhatsApp, you need to take the following steps:
Open WhatsApp (duh!)
Go to Settings
Go to Account
Look for Two-step verification
Tap on Enable
On the next screen, enter six-digit passcode.
Next, re-enter six-digit passcode.
Optionally, add your email address on the next screen.
In the last step – optional, as mentioned – WhatsApp asks for an email address to link with your account. This email address will let WhatsApp to send a link via email to disable two-step verification in case user forgets the six-digit passcode.
Remember that in case you user forget the six-digit passcode, WhatsApp won’t permit re-verifying the account within seven days of last using WhatsApp.
“After these seven days, your number will be permitted to re-verify on WhatsApp without your passcode, but you will lose all pending messages upon re-verifying – they will be deleted. If your number is re-verified on WhatsApp after 30 days of last using WhatsApp, and without your passcode, your account will be deleted and a new one will be created upon successfully re-verifying,” the WhatsApp team explains.
Have you set up two-step verification on your WhatsApp account? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, visit our How to section.