Problem
By default, new Google Workspace tenants now enforce required 2-Step Verification (2SV) for all users. Users are only given one week to enable and set up 2-Step Verification from the date of their account creation, which can create serious headaches in a situation like migrating to Google Workspace (where users might not have access within a week of their account creation to set up 2-Step Verification).
Before the 1 week enrollment period ends, users are presented with a "speedbump" where they're prompted to configure 2-Step Verification. However, users may choose to ignore the speedbump and continue without setting up 2-Step Verification. When that happens and the enrollment period lapses, a cryptic error will appear at sign-in:
This error is already confusing, and considering it prevents end-users from signing into Google Workspace, can be frightening for users too. To make matters worse, the Admin Console doesn't have any indication that the user's 2SV enrollment period lapsed, nor does it provide an obvious solution.
Solution
Naturally, it's not possible for admins to configure most 2SV factors on behalf of end users. However, the one factor that admins can configure on behalf of users is backup codes. This is exactly what needs to be done to recover the end-user account and allow the user to log in.
In the Google Workspace Admin Console, find the end-user's Google Workspace account, and select the "Security" card. Under 2-Step Verification, there's a button to "Get Backup Verification Codes". Clicking this button will enable 2SV on the end-user's account (preventing the account's login from being blocked by the org-wide 2SV enforcement policy), and it will also immediately provide a set of codes that the user can enter at the 2SV prompt when they attempt to log in.
Once the backup codes have been retrieved, the user will see a new interface at login:
Provide the user with a backup code, and they should be able to enter it at the 2SV prompt and log in successfully. Note that users may not be prompted to set up another 2SV factor (like a security key or Google Prompt), so they should be reminded to do so after signing in successfully - that way, you won't have to get backup codes for them every time they try to log in!
Comments (9)
I appreciate this post to help users in a business environment, but as a home user, how does one get into ADMIN to set up verification as that is all I get now - don't meet organizations(what organization) settings and get kicked back in an endless loop to try again and again......
That's me too
Here I am in 5/2026 with the same issue. Has anyone found a fix it yet?
I am the sole administrator and I am not able to sign in. I receive the following message: "Your sign-in settings don’t meet your organization’s 2-Step Verification policy." I never set up a 2-Step Verification policy and this account has been in existence for years. In any event, I can't implement any of the recovery methods because, again, I am the sole administrator.
That's me too. I am the only admin and I cannot access my admin console.
I am the admin, I have had 2SV (Authenticator) turned on for months (since July 2025). Suddenly, I am not able to log in to Admin or anywhere else: "Your sign-in settings don’t meet your organization’s 2-Step Verification policy". This is not even true, so it's clearly a bug caused by some recent action by Google. I see plenty of people posting about similar problem in the recent days (December 2025). This seems to be a widespread issue. I contacted Google support, logged in from email. They said to log in to Admin and contact Workspace Support. That's not possible because of the problem I need help with. If my login session ends on this device, then I am locked out completely out of my business. There is only one user in the org, me, the admin. There is no backup phone number. There is a backup email, but it's showing up as unverified. I have never generated any "backup codes". Any update in the Security section in my Google account page prompts the login page which can't be passed succesfully because of the same message "Your sign-in settings don’t meet your organization’s 2-Step Verification policy". Terrible service. Remind me again why monopolies are good for customers?
This is my exact problem!
Hello All here is what I found. Worth a try: https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/recovery/cuf/start?visit_id=639138040816670634-1113465250&rd=1
Here is the solution incase anyone comes looking for it https://www.thatonlinestuff.com.au/solve-the-your-sign-in-settings-dont-meet-your-organisations-2-step-verification-policy-issue/#user-solution I just did this and submitted the email. They extended 2fa policy on my account by 60days. I hope this helps