Comment by ddtaylor
15 days ago
I understand how it plays out, but these are backup codes that I put into a backup strategy for serious life events and both times I needed them they failed to accomplish what they are for =(
Had I followed Googles own advice and relied entirely on these codes (which I thought I was doing) I would still be locked out of all those accounts, purchase history, Google Play Developer, etc.
In general, instead of saving these codes you want to save the HOTP seed in order to set up 2fa again. I don't even bother with recovery codes.