Google Authenticator on a Mac: how to get the phone's codes into a login

Google Authenticator is a phone app. Google's help page covers Android and iPhone and iPad, and describes no version for macOS, so the six-digit code is always on the phone while the login box is on the Mac. You have four ways to close that gap: read the code and type it, copy it on the phone and paste it on the Mac through a shared clipboard, move your codes into a password manager that runs on both devices, or replace the code with a passkey where the site offers one.

Publisher note: The Relay publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Details about other products come from each maker's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm before you buy.

Is there a Google Authenticator app for Mac?

Not from Google. Its page Get verification codes with Google Authenticator offers instructions for Android and for iPhone and iPad, and says the Android app needs Android 6.0 or above. We go through the search for a Mac version in Google Authenticator for Mac.

The same page describes a sync feature that sounds like it might help: "you can synchronize your verification codes across all your devices, simply by signing in to your Google Account". It needs version 6.0 or above on Android or 4.0 or above on iOS. The devices in question are ones that run the Authenticator app, which means phones and tablets. The page does not describe a website where the codes can be read.

So the codes stay on the phone unless you move them. The rest of this guide is about getting one across quickly.

Option 1: read it and type it

This is the baseline, and for a login you do once a week it is fine. Open the app, read six digits, type them. Google's page lists the usual reasons a code is refused: you did not enter it before it expired, you picked the code for the wrong service or account, or the time on the device is not correct.

The cost is not the typing. It is finding and unlocking the phone, which is why the next option exists.

Option 2: copy on the phone, paste on the Mac

A shared clipboard removes the typing but not the phone. You still open the authenticator app and copy the code there. Then you paste on the Mac.

The Relay. Be clear about what it does here. The Relay does not read authenticator apps. Its login-code feature is for codes that arrive by text message. What applies to an authenticator code is clipboard sync, which works both ways: copy the code on the phone, press Command-V on the Mac. The clipboard travels directly between your phone and your Mac over your local network and is not uploaded to The Relay's servers. It costs $19.99, paid once, and both devices need to be on the same network or within Bluetooth range.

KDE Connect. Free. Its wiki says that because Android 10 and later restrict clipboard access, you send the clipboard by hand: there is a "Send Clipboard" button in its persistent notification, and on Android 14 or later a quick settings tile. So the routine is copy, pull down the shade, tap, paste.

Is this faster than typing six digits? Sometimes not. It earns its place when the phone is already in your hand and the code is one of many that day. The general setup is in clipboard sync between Android and a Mac.

Option 3: a password manager that generates the codes on both devices

The codes are what Bitwarden's help page calls time-based one-time passwords, or TOTP, and Google Authenticator is not the only app that can generate them. Some password managers do it, and they have Mac apps or browser extensions. Then the code is produced on the Mac, next to the password.

The quotes are from 1Password's support page and Bitwarden's help page.

Moving is not automatic. For each account you sign in to the website, open its two-factor settings, and enrol the new app by scanning the QR code or pasting the secret key the site shows. Both makers describe that step. Keep the old entry in Google Authenticator until the new one has worked once.

Option 4: a passkey in place of the code

Where a site offers passkeys, you can stop carrying codes at all. Google's passkey page says you sign in with your fingerprint, face scan, or phone screen lock, and that a passkey on an Android phone can sign you in on a computer by scanning a QR code. The steps are in using an Android passkey on a Mac. Google's Authenticator page itself suggests it: "Consider enrolling in passkeys for your Google Account."

What is the security trade-off?

A code from a separate phone proves you are holding that phone. If you generate the same code on the Mac, inside the password manager that also holds the password, then everything needed to sign in sits behind one lock. That is more convenient, and it puts more weight on the password manager's own protection. Whether that is acceptable is your call, and no tool can promise an outcome.

Three sourced points to weigh:

• The FIDO Alliance says one-time codes and phone approvals "are both inconvenient and still phishable". A code typed into a fake site is as lost as a password, whichever device made it.
• Google's best-practice list for Authenticator says to sync your codes to your Google Account and to turn on Privacy Screen, which asks for a PIN, pattern, or biometric before the app opens.
• A code that crosses a shared clipboard is on two devices for a moment. Lock both.

Which should I use?

Questions people ask

Can I read my Google Authenticator codes on a website?

Google's help page describes the phone apps only. It says codes can sync between devices that run the app when you sign in to your Google Account, and it does not describe a web view.

Does The Relay copy authenticator codes to my Mac automatically?

No. It does not read authenticator apps. It copies login codes that arrive by text message. For an authenticator code, you copy it in the app and the clipboard sync carries it to the Mac.

Can I move my codes out of Google Authenticator in bulk?

Google's page describes exporting codes by QR code to the Authenticator app on another device. For a different app such as a password manager, plan to enrol each account again from the website's two-factor settings.