Pro tip: Easily remove a lost device from your Google account
I have a lot of Android devices attached to my Google account. Sometimes those devices no longer need be attached to my account, and other times I just need to know what activity has been going on -- between device and account. With so many devices, that would be a monstrous challenge... or it would be, had Google not been the company in question.
Google has a number of really well thought out tools at the ready. However, most people don't know about these tools. That's why I want to highlight the Devices & activity security tool. With this, you can get an overview of what's connected to your account, find the last location used, and remove a device with ease.
This tool is much more important than you might think. It's a very quick way to sign a device out of your account -- whether you have said device or not. So, how do you use this magical tool? First, make sure you're logged into your Google account on the machine you are using (desktop, laptop, mobile). Once you've logged in, go to the Google Account Security page, and click on View Activity under Devices & activity.
At this point, you should see the listing of the devices associated with your account (Figure A). Click on one of those devices to expand the information.
Figure A
Devices associated with my Google account.
Now, let's remove a device from the account. To do this, follow these steps:
Click to expand the information about the device
Click the Remove button (Figure B)
Confirm the removal by clicking Yes
Figure B
Removing a device from your account.
The device has now been removed from your account. You can test this by opening up the device and attempting to use any of the Google services. It should require you to re-authenticate to your Google account.
Google has included a number of security features with your Google account and the Android ecosystem. With the ability to easily remove devices from your account, your Android mobile life just got a bit more secure.
Do you use the Google Security dashboard or any of the various Google dashboards to help simplify your Android life? Let us know in the discussion thread below.
