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Google has been incredibly active recently, pushing out new features and making changes to existing ones since the year started. While some of these are helpful additions that benefit all users — such as Google Pixel phones potentially getting app lock in the future — others are much more polarizing, like Gemini taking over your phone with agentic AI capabilities.
A feature that aligns more with the former is Selfie Video, which just started rolling out in the last week of July 2026. With the option set up, you can record a real-time video of yourself to sign in to any device. This is helpful if you ever lose your phone or forget your password, as it bypasses the need to have access to a device you’re signed in to or use, unlike other methods of authentication.
To use this, you’ll first have to record a video of yourself. You’ll be asked to make certain movements to get all angles of your face by rotating or tilting your head, and an AI model will analyze this to see if you’re a real person. This recording gets encrypted and saved to your Google Account. When you choose to sign in using Selfie Video, you’ll be asked to record another video, again following instructions shown on the screen to ensure the footage is live. Google compares this to the video you recorded during setup, and if there’s a match, you are logged in.
Privacy and security concerns with Selfie Video
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It’s natural to be skeptical of any feature that allows sign-in on new devices without a password, but Google takes several steps to ensure this can’t be misused easily. The video itself is encrypted and stored in the cloud, and you can delete it at any time, removing the ability to log in via this method unless you set it up again. To do this, go to your Google Account’s Selfie Video page, select the video, and then delete it.
Additionally, Google states that it uses “multiple layers of security to help prevent impersonation attempts like fake photos and videos (i.e., deep fakes),” on top of the company’s standard security practices that protect your account against potentially malicious login attempts.
For users concerned about their privacy and how this recorded video is used, Google states that, by default, it’s only used when you attempt to sign in using the method. However, you can choose to allow Google to use the video for additional purposes, such as improving its facial detection capabilities. It’s also stated that Selfie Video can be used to access certain features for some users, though this is completely optional as well.
How to use Selfie Video to log in to your Google Account
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You can add Selfie Video as a sign-in option on your Google Account through any device you’re logged in to, provided your region has access to the feature and your device has a camera. The easiest way to do this is by going to the Google Selfie Video sign-in web page, but there are other methods as well.
On a phone, open a Google app, such as Google Drive, Gmail, or Google Messages, and tap on your profile picture in the top-right corner. Among the options that open up, tap Manage your Google Account right below your profile icon to open your account settings. Here, tap Security & Sign-in and scroll down to the bottom of the “How you sign in to Google” section, where you’ll find Selfie Video under “You can add more sign-in options.”
On a desktop or your laptop, open Google Chrome and click on your profile icon in the top-right corner of your screen. Click on Manage your Google Account here as well, and choose Security & Sign-in from the sidebar on the left. You’ll find the Selfie Video option under “You can add more sign-in options” here as well by scrolling to the bottom of the “How you sign in to Google” section.
