Why your old Qwiklabs history matters
Before Cloud Skills Boost existed, the same hands-on labs ran on a platform called Qwiklabs. If you completed skill badges, quests, or lab credits there, that history does not automatically disappear — but it also does not automatically carry over to a brand-new Cloud Skills Boost profile. If you start the 2026 Arcade with a fresh account, those past completions won't count toward your point total until you link the two.
Linking matters for Arcade eligibility because the program counts skill badges and arcade games completed on your active Cloud Skills Boost profile. Badges sitting on an unlinked Qwiklabs identity are invisible to the tracker and to the program's verification sweep.
Before you start: make sure both accounts use the same email
The single most important requirement is that your legacy Qwiklabs account and your current Cloud Skills Boost profile are tied to the same Google account email. The migration tool matches accounts by email address, so a mismatch is the most common reason a transfer silently fails.
If your Qwiklabs account used a personal Gmail and your Cloud Skills Boost profile uses a work or school address, you'll need to consolidate first — either by changing the email on one account or by contacting program support to request a manual merge. Trying to run the link with two different emails will complete without error but transfer nothing.
Linking the accounts step by step
Sign in to Cloud Skills Boost with the Google account you want as your primary profile, then open your account settings and look for the Qwiklabs / legacy account connection section. Initiate the link and you'll be asked to authorize access to the old account — sign in with the matching Qwiklabs email when prompted.
Once authorized, the platform runs a transfer that pulls over your completed quests, skill badges, and earned credits. This is not instant: allow up to 48 hours for the full history to populate across your profile, the dashboard, and the public profile page the tracker reads.
After the window passes, open your public profile URL and confirm that the badges you expected are now listed. If a badge is still missing, the most likely cause is an email mismatch (see the section above) or a badge type that the new platform doesn't have an equivalent for — some legacy quest completions don't map to a current skill badge and won't transfer.
Verifying your badges count for the 2026 Arcade
Eligibility for the 2026 season depends on the badges and games visible on your active Cloud Skills Boost profile during the cohort window — not on what's archived on Qwiklabs. After the transfer settles, paste your public profile URL into the tracker. The tool re-reads the profile and categorizes each badge as a skill badge (0.5 points), an arcade game (1 point), or trivia (1 point).
If a migrated badge shows up but isn't recognized as an arcade game, it may be a generic skill badge rather than a game completion — only games listed in the current monthly Arcade line-up earn the full point. Use the monthly games grid in the tracker to confirm which of your synced completions match the active season.
What to do if the transfer didn't work
If 48 hours have passed and the history still hasn't linked, the fastest fix is to re-initiate the connection from the same account settings page and watch for any error message — a failure there usually points to the email mismatch. Re-check both account emails letter-for-letter, including any plus-addressing or domain differences.
For accounts that genuinely can't be linked (for example, a Qwiklabs account whose email you can no longer access), program support can perform a manual review. Have your Qwiklabs profile URL, your Cloud Skills Boost profile URL, and a list of the badges you expect to transfer ready before you reach out. Manual merges are slow — start the process early, well before your cohort's registration deadline.