diff --git a/geemap/common.py b/geemap/common.py
index 17a66b5ae9..b01f161ce2 100644
--- a/geemap/common.py
+++ b/geemap/common.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ def ee_initialize(
 
     Args:
         token_name (str, optional): The name of the Earth Engine token. Defaults to "EARTHENGINE_TOKEN".
+            In Colab, you can also set a secret named "EE_PROJECT_ID" to initialize Earth Engine. 
         auth_mode (str, optional): The authentication mode, can be one of colab, notebook, localhost, or gcloud.
             See https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/guides/auth for more details. Defaults to None.
         service_account (bool, optional): If True, use a service account. Defaults to False.
@@ -61,9 +62,16 @@ def ee_initialize(
 
     if auth_mode is None:
         if in_colab_shell():
-            auth_mode = "notebook"
+            from google.colab import userdata
+
+            try:
+                project_id = userdata.get("EE_PROJECT_ID")
+                auth_mode = "colab"
+                kwargs["project"] = project_id
+            except Exception:
+                auth_mode = "notebook"
         else:
-            auth_mode = "localhost"
+            auth_mode = "notebook"
 
     auth_args["auth_mode"] = auth_mode
 
@@ -122,16 +130,6 @@ def ee_initialize(
                             )  # deals with token generated by old auth method.
                             with open(credential_file_path, "w") as f:
                                 f.write(credential)
-                # elif in_colab_shell():
-                #     if credentials_in_drive() and (not credentials_in_colab()):
-                #         copy_credentials_to_colab()
-                #     elif not credentials_in_colab:
-                #         ee.Authenticate(**auth_args)
-                #         if is_drive_mounted() and (not credentials_in_drive()):
-                #             copy_credentials_to_drive()
-                #     else:
-                #         if is_drive_mounted():
-                #             copy_credentials_to_drive()
 
                 ee.Initialize(**kwargs)