What should be configured first?

The mail: everything else is recovered through it. A strong second factor and backup codes on paper, specifically for it.

Why must the recovery mailbox not be tied to the same number?

Because then both points of recovery fall at the same time when the number is lost or the SIM is swapped.

Checklist 03

Account recovery checklist by Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich

Recovery is only ever prepared in advance. At the moment access is already lost there is nothing to change the recovery contacts with and nothing to print the backup codes from, because that requires the very access that is gone.

English version for the United Kingdom.

What to configure while access still exists

This page is laid out for printing: only this order of actions reaches the printer.

A separate recovery mailboxOn a different service and not tied to the same phone number.
Backup codes on paperFor the mail, the bank and the messenger. Kept apart from the phone.
A second factor stronger than SMSAn authenticator app, or a hardware key where one is supported.
A check of recovery contactsOpen the settings of each important service and confirm your current number and mail are there.
A list of important accountsFive to seven of them: mail, bank, messenger, shop, work service. More is not needed.
A trusted personOne person who knows where the backup codes are kept, for a serious situation.
An annual reviewOnce a year open the same list and confirm nothing has aged.

Why this is done in advance and never afterwards

Every mechanism for getting back into an account rests on something you configured while you were inside: a recovery email, a number, codes, a trusted device.

If none of that is configured, what remains is a support form decided on circumstantial evidence, which takes weeks and frequently ends in refusal.

The mail matters more than everything else

The mail is the key to the rest, because other services are recovered through it. So it gets the strongest second factor and the most reliable backup codes.

A separate check: make sure the recovery address is not the same mailbox and not one tied to the same phone. Such a pair falls at the same time.

Recovery method and how reliable it is

Method	Works if	Weak point
Backup codes	They are printed and kept separately	Being stored next to the phone
Recovery mailbox	It is on a different service	Being tied to the same number
A code to the number	You still hold the number	Losing the number, a SIM swap
A trusted device	The second device is intact	Both devices in the same bag
A support request	Circumstantial evidence exists	Weeks of waiting and frequent refusal

Family

Family checklist by Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich

The most effective protection inside a family is not configured on a phone. It is a handful of agreements settled in advance and out loud, because at the necessary moment the person will be alone and under pressure.

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Travel

Travel checklist by Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich

Travel does not change the level of threat, it changes the cost of a mistake. At home a lost phone is an inconvenience; in another country it is the simultaneous loss of communication, money, documents and the means of restoring all three.

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Breach

Data breach checklist by Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich

A letter saying your data appeared in a breach reaches almost everybody and almost always frightens more than it should. The useful work here is short and depends on what exactly leaked rather than on the size of the headline.

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Questions and answers

What should be configured first?: The mail: everything else is recovered through it. A strong second factor and backup codes on paper, specifically for it.
Why must the recovery mailbox not be tied to the same number?: Because then both points of recovery fall at the same time when the number is lost or the SIM is swapped.