Blog post

Apple Notes.app and google account with two-factor security not working

So you’ve done something, and the Notes app on the Mac won’t log in to Google anymore. It will sit and spin on a “logging in” forever.

Oh, and you’ve also just turned on two-factor auth in Google.  Well, that’s the problem.

Google considers Notes to be a “less secure” app, and it won’t work with two-factor. What you need to do is create an app password, and then it will.

See also https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833

(Not saying two-factor auth is the problem. In fact, you should probably use it for everything.)


Jonathan Konrath

Written by Jonathan Konrath, technical writer, docs manager, and publications engineer.

Jonathan Konrath
Technical writing, documentation systems, API docs, and assorted blog posts from Jonathan Konrath.