How to copy a Gmail verification code on a computer

By the Peekat team · Updated October 30, 2026

Gmail’s Copy code button is only in its apps for Android and iOS, where it began rolling out in September 2026; Gmail on the web does not have it (9to5Google, September 19, 2026, read October 30, 2026). On a computer, open the email, select the code, copy it with ⌘ C on a Mac or Ctrl C on Windows, and paste it into the site. A notifier extension can put the code one click from its notification instead.

By hand, a little faster

Find it quickly. Gmail lists the newest mail first; a code that is slow to arrive is often in the Updates or Promotions tab, or in Spam.
Select it in one move. A double-click selects a code without spaces. A code written as 482 913 needs a drag, or a double-click on each half.
Paste once. Most sign-in pages split the code into boxes but accept the whole code pasted into the first one.
Use the newest code. When you ask for a code twice, the first one usually stops working.

On your phone

In the Gmail app for Android or iOS, a message with a code can show a Copy code button under its subject. Google was still rolling it out in September 2026, so not every account has it yet.

With Apple Mail on a Mac

If you add your Gmail account to Apple’s Mail app, Safari on a Mac (macOS Sonoma or later) can offer a code from a recent email as you fill in the code field, the way it does for codes sent by text message.

A word of care

A code is a key to your account for a few minutes. Enter it only on the site you were signing in to, and never because an email or a caller asks you to. A tool that fills codes in for you should do it only on the site that sent the code.

A code one click from its notification

Peekat Email, a free browser extension for Gmail, notices verification codes and sign-in links in new mail from any of your accounts, in any inbox tab, and notifies you of them even while other mail stays quiet.

The notification shows the code and says Click to copy. A click copies it; nothing is ever copied by itself.
In the list, the code sits under the subject with a copy button.
Copied in the toolbar popup, the code also goes into the code field of the page in front, but only when that page is the sender’s own site over https: a code from github.com fills in on github.com, never on a look-alike, and never in Gmail.
With previews off, the notification says only Verification code; a click still copies it.

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