> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.adsmcp.si/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Google Asks for a Passkey When Connecting Google Ads

> Google requires a passkey to authorize new Google Ads API access. What the passkey screen means, why a new passkey takes up to 7 days, and how to get connected.

# Google asks for a passkey when I connect Google Ads

When you connect Google Ads to ADSMCP, Google may ask you for a **passkey**
before it returns you to the account picker. That screen comes from Google, not
from ADSMCP.

Since **5 August 2026**, Google requires a passkey to authorize new Google Ads
API access. Every tool that works with the Google Ads API is covered by this —
Google Ads Editor, Google Ads scripts, BigQuery Data Transfer Service, and
ADSMCP. A password, an SMS code, or an authenticator app is no longer enough
on its own.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Already connected? Nothing changes for you.** Google only applies this when
> new API access is authorized. An existing ADSMCP connection keeps working and
> will not ask you for anything — unless you disconnect and reconnect.

## Find your screen below

> **"Try again in 6 days" or a security delay**
>
> You created a passkey, and Google holds a **brand-new passkey for up to 7 days**
> before it will accept it. This is a Google security measure. Nothing shortens
> it — not ADSMCP, and not Google's own support.
>
> Your options:
>
> * **Use an older passkey.** If the same Google account already had a passkey
>   before this one, it works today.
> * **Use a device that already signs you in.** A phone or laptop that Google
>   already trusts for this account will usually get you through.
> * **Wait it out.** The connection works normally once the delay passes. Come
>   back to [Connections](https://adsmcp.si/dashboard/connections) and connect Google Ads
>   again.
>
> In the meantime, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn connect with no passkey step, and
> the rest of ADSMCP works as usual.

> **"We couldn't find a passkey" or "your existing passkeys aren't compatible with this device"**
>
> Your Google account has a passkey, but not one this device can use. Try these
> in order — most people are connected by the second one.
>
> **1. Open an incognito or private window**
>
> Sign in there and connect again. Google stops offering a stored passkey it
> cannot use, and falls back to a method that works. This is the fix that
> resolves it most often.
>
> **2. Choose "Try another way"**
>
> On Google's passkey screen, this lets you pick a different method or
> another device — for example approving on your phone instead.
>
> **3. Add a passkey on the device you're actually using**
>
> Go to [Google's passkey settings](https://myaccount.google.com/signinoptions/passkeys)
> and create one there. Note that a brand-new passkey carries the up-to-7-day
> delay described above.

> **I don't have a passkey, or I don't want to create one**
>
> To authorize new Google Ads API access you now need one. There is no
> password-only path any more, for any tool.
>
> It is a smaller change than it sounds:
>
> * Setting one up takes about a minute, at [g.co/passkeys](https://g.co/passkeys).
> * It does **not** change your Google password, and it does **not** change
>   anything in your Google Ads account or settings.
> * A passkey can be your phone's screen lock, your laptop's fingerprint reader
>   or Windows Hello, or a hardware security key. You do not need a working
>   fingerprint sensor specifically — a PIN or screen lock is enough.
>
> Google's own guide: [Use a passkey with Google Ads](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16968810).

> **My work or school account won't allow passkeys**
>
> Some Google Workspace organizations block passkey sign-in. If that is your
> account, the passkey screen is a dead end until your administrator changes it.
>
> Two ways forward:
>
> * **Ask your Google Workspace admin** to allow passkeys or security keys for
>   your account.
> * **Connect with a different Google login.** Add a personal Google account as a
>   user on the Google Ads account in Google Ads, then connect that login to
>   ADSMCP instead. This usually gets you running the same day.

> **The passkey worked, but ADSMCP still didn't connect**
>
> If Google accepted your passkey and told you that you were all set, but
> ADSMCP never showed the account picker, try once more in an **incognito
> window with browser extensions turned off**.
>
> If it still doesn't complete, that one is worth reporting — contact us from the
> in-app chat and say that the passkey succeeded but the connection did not land,
> and we'll look at it.

## What ADSMCP cannot do

We are asked this often, so to be direct: ADSMCP cannot turn the passkey
requirement off, skip it, or get you an exception. The check happens inside your
Google account, before Google hands anything to us — we never see the attempt.
It is identical on every ADSMCP plan, so upgrading does not change it either.

## Related

* [Google Ads integration](https://docs.adsmcp.si/ad-platforms/google-ads.md)
* [Support](https://docs.adsmcp.si/knowledge-base/support.md)


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