How Executive Assistants Get Sign-in Codes

An executive assistant gets an executive’s sign-in codes most smoothly by not needing them: use delegate access wherever a service offers it, such as Gmail or Outlook delegation, so you sign in as yourself. For the airline, travel, utility and vendor portals that still text a code to the executive’s phone, the executive can agree to forward only those code texts, matched by a keyword, from their iPhone to your phone, your email or a private Slack or Microsoft Teams channel.

What you need: your executive’s agreement; their iPhone on iOS 26 or later, with Fwrd on it; and somewhere for the codes to go: your phone number, your email address, or a private Slack or Teams channel only you can read.

How do assistants get an executive’s verification codes without interrupting them?

Set up delegate access first, then forward the few code texts that are left. Delegation means your own login and no code at all; forwarding means the exec’s phone sends you the code while they keep working.

• Gmail. Google’s help says a delegate can read, send and delete email in the account, can’t change its password, and that personal Gmail accounts can add up to 10 delegates (Google, read October 25, 2026).
• Outlook. Microsoft’s help says a calendar delegate can schedule and respond to meetings on the owner’s behalf, and a mail delegate gets Send on Behalf permission (Microsoft, read October 25, 2026).
• Other services. Look for an “add a user”, “travel arranger” or “authorized user” option in each account’s settings before reaching for the executive’s codes.

Which approach fits?

Delegation fits anything that offers it. For the rest, forwarding saves both of you the interruption.

Agree it with the executive first

• Only with their knowledge and agreement, on their own phone. The executive installs Fwrd and turns on the automation, or watches you do it, and can turn it off any time.
• Forward codes, not their texts. Match a word that only code texts contain, so personal messages never leave the phone.
• Leave out banking. Some banks forbid sharing codes. Check the bank’s terms, and keep bank codes with the executive unless the bank allows otherwise.
• Keep the destination private. A channel that several people can read means several people can use the code.

How to forward an executive’s code texts to you

The executive’s iPhone does the work. These steps send codes to a private Slack or Teams channel; your phone or email works too, as described after them.

1. Add your destination in Fwrd. On the executive’s iPhone, open Fwrd, tap +, choose Slack or Microsoft Teams, and paste the channel’s webhook URL into the Configuration field. Tap Send Test Message, then save with the tick.

2. Keep only the services you handle. In the same destination, choose Only Some Texts under Which Texts and add the words those code texts use to Contains Any Of, such as the airline’s name.

3. Create a Message automation. On iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, then +. If you see Describe a shortcut, tap Edit. Tap Automation, then Message, change Sender to Message, and type code. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, tap +, choose Message, and type code under Message Contains.

4. Let it run without asking. On iOS 27, tap the arrow beside the trigger and check Confirm Before Run is off, then under ⓘ, then Privacy, check Allow Running When Locked is on. On iOS 26, choose Run Immediately, then tap Next and Create New Shortcut.

5. Add Fwrd’s action. Search for Forward, add Forward Message to All Destinations, and set its Message field to Shortcut Input (on iOS 26, Shortcut Input, then Message). Tap back to save (Done on iOS 26).

6. That’s it. New code texts with that word now reach you on their own, with the executive’s iPhone unlocked or locked.

To get the codes on your own phone or in your inbox instead, add an Another Phone or Email destination in Fwrd, then add Apple’s Send Message or Send Email action below Fwrd’s and give it Fwrd’s output; Apple’s action does the sending. Fwrd’s word filters don’t apply there, so the automation’s word decides what’s sent: pick one only code texts use, such as the portal’s name. The phone guide and email guide show every tap, and forward iPhone SMS to another phone explains the destination.

What forwarding can’t do

• It can’t reach codes in an app or an email. Only texts are forwarded. Authenticator codes and app approvals stay with the executive.
• It can’t work while the executive’s iPhone is off or offline. On a flight with no Wi-Fi, codes wait. After a restart, forwarding waits until the executive unlocks it once.
• It doesn’t replace delegation. Shared codes mean shared access; keep forwarding to the accounts that offer nothing better.
• It only goes one way. You can’t reply through the forward, and only new texts are sent.

Fwrd is free for 15 forwards a month as of October 2026, and a text counts once however many places it goes. An assistant booking travel every week may pass that; Fwrd Pro removes the limit for $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, bought once on the executive’s iPhone.