2026-09-28 · 12 min read

What can a recovery contact see? Apple vs Google

What can a recovery contact see? Almost nothing. Compare Apple and Google: what's shared, what stays private, setup times, and how to add or remove one.

A recovery contact sees almost nothing: Apple gives them no access to your account, only the ability to give you a code, and Google shows them only your name, email address and profile photo in the invitation. On neither platform can they read your messages, photos or email, sign in as you, or start a recovery without you.

Below: what appears on the contact's screen at each step, why Google setup can take up to 14 days, and how either of you can step back out.

What does a recovery contact actually see on Apple and on Google?#

Apple's wording is that your recovery contacts won't have any access to your account, only the ability to give you a code. Google's launch post says a recovery contact will not have access to your account or any of your personal information. The request a Google contact receives contains your name, email address and profile photo, and the contact doesn't get your security alerts and notifications.

The two systems differ on limits, eligibility and how long setup takes:

	Apple Account Recovery Contact	Google Recovery Contact
What the contact sees about you	Nothing inside your account (Apple)	Your name, email address and profile photo in the request (Google)
Your messages, photos, email, files	No access	No access to your account or personal information (Google blog)
What the contact does	Generates a code on their own device and gives it to you out of band, for example in person or over a phone call (Apple Platform Security)	Picks, out of 3 numbers on their device, the one that matches the number you gave them (Google)
Who starts recovery	You. The contact can only get a code after you've started account recovery (Apple)	You, from the recovery page after a failed sign-in (Google)
Maximum contacts	5 (Apple)	10, and one person can be a contact for up to 25 accounts (Google)
Who's eligible	You and the contact must be over 13 (varies by country or region), and all your devices must run iOS 15, iPadOS 15 or macOS Monterey 12 or later (Apple)	Eligible personal accounts (9to5Google). Not Google Workspace, Advanced Protection Program or child accounts (Google)
How it becomes active	Contact accepts in Messages. Family Sharing members are added automatically (Apple)	Contact has up to 7 days to accept, then there's a further 7-day wait before you can use them (Google)
Does the provider know who they are?	No. Apple says your chosen contacts aren't known to it, it only learns about a contact late in a recovery attempt, and it doesn't keep that afterwards (Apple Platform Security)	Not stated by Google

Can a recovery contact read your messages, photos or email?#

No, on either platform, and on Apple the barrier is cryptographic, not just policy.

Apple splits the secret in two. A random 256-bit AES key encrypts the Recovery Contact key into a Recovery Contact Packet. Your contact holds the packet, Apple holds the AES key, and neither piece alone reveals the underlying key. Apple's security guide states that neither Apple nor the recovery contact has enough information on its own to recover your end-to-end encrypted iCloud data. Your contact is carrying a sealed envelope they can't open.

That holds with Advanced Data Protection on or off. Apple says recovery contacts can help recover your account and data, including all of your end-to-end encrypted data, either way. The recovered data lands on your device, never on your contact's.

On Google, the contact's whole job is confirming a number. Google says a recovery contact only helps you get back into your account, and nothing in the flow shows them your inbox, Drive or activity.

No. On both platforms you start recovery and the contact only confirms it.

Apple: your contact can't get a code until you've already started the account recovery process. Apple runs a liveness check on your account to stop a contact from starting recovery without your consent, and if your account is in active use, recovery also needs knowledge of your iCloud Security Code.
Google: the flow starts from your own failed sign-in. You tap Get number, and your contact has to match that number against 3 options before it expires in 15 minutes. A contact acting alone has nothing to confirm.

How does recovery with a contact work, step by step?#

On Apple#

You start account recovery.
Your contact opens Settings > their name > Sign-In & Security > Recovery Contacts, scrolls to Account Recovery For, taps your name, then taps Get Recovery Code (Apple).
They give you the code out of band, for example in person or over a phone call (Apple Platform Security).
You enter the code, which sets up a device-to-device connection using SPAKE2+ that Apple can't read.
You reset your Apple Account password (Apple).

On Google#

A failed sign-in takes you to the recovery page.
You tap Get number and tell your contact the number.
Your contact sees 3 numbers on their device and selects the one that matches (Google).
This has to happen within 15 minutes, before the number expires, a limit TechCrunch's launch coverage also reports.

Google launched the feature on 15 October 2025, alongside Sign in with Mobile Number for Android account recovery.

What's in the invitation, and how long until it works?#

On Apple, the invitation arrives in the Messages app and your contact accepts it there. People in your Family Sharing group are added automatically.

On Google, the request shows your name, email address and profile photo. Your contact has up to 7 days to accept, and another 7 days pass before you can use them for recovery, so a slow accept means up to 14 days. You can't set one up on the day you get locked out. If they haven't declined, you can resend up to 2 invites a day; if they decline, you wait 4 days before inviting them again.

How do you add or remove a recovery contact?#

Task	Apple (iPhone or iPad)	Google Account
Add	Settings > your name > Sign-In & Security > Recovery Contacts > Add Recovery Contact (Apple)	Security & sign-in > Recovery contacts > Add recovery contact > enter an email address > Send request (Google), or go to g.co/recovery-contacts (Google blog)
Remove someone	Recovery Contacts > their name > Remove Contact. They get a message saying they're no longer your contact (Apple)	Recovery contacts > trash icon (Google)
Remove yourself from someone else's account	Recovery Contacts > Account Recovery For > their name > Remove. They get a message. The same steps exist on Mac under System Settings (Apple)	Not covered in Google's help page
When the owner is told	If a contact declines, or removes themself (Apple)	Not stated by Google

What happens if your recovery contact is unreachable?#

On Apple, without a reachable contact or a recovery key, you fall back to standard account recovery, which might take several days or longer and which Apple Support can't speed up. A second contact is the cheap fix: Apple allows five and Google ten.

Apple's other backup is a recovery key, a 28-character code you use along with a trusted phone number and an Apple device. Advanced Data Protection requires at least one of these, a recovery contact or a recovery key, before you can turn it on. With ADP on, Apple doesn't hold the keys to your end-to-end encrypted data and can't recover it for you, so your way back in is a device passcode, a recovery contact or a recovery key.

If your lockout started with a lost phone, we cover that case separately in what happens if you lose the phone that has your 2FA.

What should you check before adding one, or agreeing to be one?#

If you're adding a recovery contact:

Pick people you can reach by phone or in person. Apple's code is meant to be handed over out of band.
Update every Apple device first. Apple needs iOS 15, iPadOS 15 or macOS Monterey 12 or later on all of them.
Send Google requests now. A contact can take up to 14 days to become usable.
Add at least two. One person going silent shouldn't mean several days of standard recovery.
Check your account type. Workspace and Advanced Protection accounts can't have Google recovery contacts, so you'll need a different route.
Planning to turn on ADP? Set up a contact or a 28-character recovery key before you switch it on.

If you've been asked to be one:

Expect to see very little. On Google that's a name, an email and a photo. On Apple you see nothing from their account.
Give a code only to the person, directly. Apple tells contacts that if anyone else contacts you requesting a code for them, don't provide it.
On Google, select only the number your friend gave you. If none of the 3 numbers matches, don't pick one.
You can step back at any time. On Apple, the other person gets a message that you're no longer their contact.

How is a recovery contact different from a legacy contact?#

A recovery contact helps you get back in. Legacy tools decide what other people can reach when you can't act yourself, and they reach far more.

	Apple recovery contact	Apple Legacy Contact	Google Inactive Account Manager
Purpose	Help you get back into a locked account	Give a person access to certain data in your account after your death (Apple)	Share parts of your data with, or notify, chosen people after a period of inactivity you set (Google)
What they can reach	Nothing	Photos, messages, notes, files, device backups and more (Apple)	The data you chose to share, sent as an email with a download link (Google)
What's excluded	n/a	Purchased movies, music and books, subscriptions, and iCloud Keychain (passwords, passkeys, payment info) (Apple)	Anything you didn't select
What unlocks it	You starting recovery	The access key you generated, plus a death certificate, with the request started on Apple's claim website (Apple Platform Security)	Inactivity measured from sign-ins, My Activity, Gmail use and Android check-ins (Google)
How many	Up to 5	More than one, and any one of them can act alone, including permanently deleting data (Apple)	Up to 10 people, who aren't notified during setup (Google)

Once a Legacy Contact request is completed, Activation Lock is removed automatically. Google, separately, may delete an account that is inactive across Google for at least two years.

Why isn't a recovery contact enough if you become unreachable?#

A recovery contact is deliberately useless to anyone but you, which is what makes it safe to set up. It also means that if you go unreachable, it gives the people who depend on you nothing, and Apple's Legacy Contact covers one account's data while leaving out passwords and passkeys.

Proceedly covers that gap. You check in on a schedule. If you miss a check-in past a grace window, a person you name confirms the handoff (or, on a paid plan, it releases automatically). Only then does your encrypted handoff plan reach the people who depend on you. The plan holds your instructions and where the keys live, never the passwords themselves. Recovery contacts solve lockout; the handoff needs its own plan.

FAQ#

Does a recovery contact get my security alerts?#

Not on Google, which says a recovery contact doesn't get your security alerts and notifications. Apple describes the contact's only ability as giving you a code.

Does Apple know who my recovery contacts are?#

No. Apple says your chosen recovery contacts aren't known to it. Its servers only learn about a contact late in a recovery attempt, and that information isn't kept after recovery completes.

Can a recovery contact help if I use Advanced Data Protection?#

Yes. Apple says recovery contacts can help recover your account and data, including end-to-end encrypted data, whether or not ADP is on. ADP needs iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 or macOS 13.1 or later, two-factor authentication and a device passcode or password.

Can a child be a recovery contact?#

On Google, no. Child accounts can't add recovery contacts or act as one. On Apple, both people must be over 13, though the age varies by country or region.

Will the other person know if I remove them?#

On Apple, yes. Whether you remove a contact or remove yourself from someone else's list, the other person gets a message.

How long before a new Google recovery contact works?#

7 days after they accept, and they have up to 7 days to accept, so up to 14 days in total.

Is a recovery contact the same as an Apple Legacy Contact?#

No. A Legacy Contact can request access to photos, messages, notes, files and backups after your death, using the access key and a death certificate. A recovery contact can't reach anything in your account.