What is OAuth?
Updated · By Robert Breen
OAuth is a standard way to let one app use your account in another app without giving it your password. You sign in on the real service's own page, approve a list of permissions, and the service hands the app a token it can use within those limits.
Why it matters for a small business
OAuth is behind nearly every "Sign in with Google" button you click while connecting tools. It keeps your password where it belongs, with Google or Microsoft, and lets you remove one app's access later without changing your password. If an automation tool asks you to type your Gmail password into it directly, treat that as a red flag.
The permission screen is the part to slow down on. It lists what the connected app will be able to do, such as see and edit your spreadsheets or send email. Those permissions cover the whole account you pick, so connect the business account that should own the automation, and read the list before you approve.
In a real lesson: Find and Use n8n Templates
In the Find and Use n8n Templates lesson, the booking template for Hillside Pet Grooming, the made-up grooming shop in the lesson, needs two Google services. The Set up template window lists them: 1. Google Sheets and 2. Gmail. You click Create new Google Sheets credential, then Sign in with Google, and pick the account the business uses.
That opens Google's page, not n8n's. Google lists what n8n will be allowed to do in Google Sheets, you tick Select all and click Continue, and Google hands the connection back. The window says Account connected. You repeat it for Gmail, where the permissions cover sending the confirmation email. At no point does n8n see your Google password.
The lesson also notes why it was this easy: on n8n Cloud, Google sign-in works without any Google developer setup. If you self-host n8n, you may need to register your own Google OAuth app first, and that's where many self-hosted setups get stuck.
Try this lesson free or read the step-by-step guide.
Common confusions
OAuth vs API key
An API key is one fixed secret you copy and paste. OAuth is a sign-in flow: you approve access on the service's own page and the app receives a token, which the service can limit, refresh or revoke.
OAuth vs sharing your password
With OAuth, the app never learns your password, and you can cut off just that app later. Typing your password into a third-party tool hands over everything, with no clean way to take it back short of changing it.
Tips
- Read each permission before approving, and connect the account that should own the automation.
- Review connected apps in your Google account's security settings now and then, and remove ones you no longer use.
- If a connection stops working after a password change or a long gap, reconnect the credential.
Related terms
Where you use it: free lessons
- Find and Use n8n Templates (n8n, 9 min)
- Lovable + n8n: Build a Web App with an AI Backend (Lovable and n8n, 15 min)
- AI Receipt Extractor: Receipts to Google Sheets with n8n (n8n, 12 min)
Frequently asked questions
- Does n8n see my Google password when I sign in with Google?
- No. You sign in on Google's own page, and Google gives n8n a token limited to the permissions you approved.
- How do I remove n8n's access to my Google account?
- Delete the credential in n8n, then remove n8n from the list of connected third-party apps in your Google account's security settings.