23andMe 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Your 23andMe account holds your DNA results, ancestry and health reports, and your DNA Relatives connections. 23andMe is now the personal genetics service of 23andMe Research Institute, a nonprofit, and its help center has moved to support.23andme.org (23andMe).
Unlike most services, 23andMe doesn't ask whether you want 2-step verification. It's required for every account that signs in with an email address and password. New accounts start on email codes, and you can switch to text messages or an authenticator app in your account settings (23andMe). This guide covers the switch to an authenticator app, using Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any app that makes time-based codes works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the 23andMe steps come from 23andMe's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The help center's web pages showed a bot check to our plain requests, so we read the same articles through the help center's public article feed on its own domain. We haven't tested the steps on a 23andMe account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Which methods you can pick
23andMe lists three methods: email, SMS and an authenticator app. It says the choice may depend on your country and the type of account, and text messages work only in some countries (23andMe).
- Shared family account: if several people have profiles in one account, email codes aren't enough. 23andMe requires SMS or an authenticator app for these accounts (23andMe).
- Sign in with Apple or Google: these accounts skip 23andMe's 2-step verification. To use an authenticator app, unlink Apple or Google in your account settings first. 23andMe then puts you on email codes, and you can switch from there (23andMe). Unlinking sends you an email to set a 23andMe password (23andMe, 23andMe). If you hid your email with Apple, 23andMe says to contact Customer Care to unlink.
One thing to know before you switch: once you leave email codes for an app or SMS, 23andMe's help says you can't go back to email. You can only move between the app and SMS.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
23andMe describes these steps (23andMe):
- Sign in on the 23andMe website and open your account settings.
- Click edit in the top part of the page, where your account information is.
- Click Switch to app-based 2-Step Verification.
- Enter your 23andMe password and the code 23andMe sends to your email.
- 23andMe shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the page is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into 23andMe to finish.
23andMe's help mentions only the QR code. It doesn't say whether the page also offers a key to type. If you see one, in Novaz tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
When 23andMe asks for a code
You enter your email and password, then the 6-digit code. At sign-in you can tick Remember me, and that browser on that device stops asking for a code. 23andMe suggests doing this only on devices you trust.
No backup codes
23andMe's help doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. Your fallback is SMS, where it's offered: you can switch between the app and text messages at any time in your account settings, but you need the device for the method you're on now to do it (23andMe). Keep the email on your account working too, since 23andMe uses it for password resets (23andMe). For more on the trade-offs, see authenticator app vs SMS.
If 23andMe rejects your code
23andMe's help doesn't cover rejected app codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
23andMe doesn't describe moving the authenticator to a new phone. What it does describe is switching methods, which needs the old device. Where SMS is available, one route is to click Switch to SMS-based 2-step verification in your account settings while you still have the old phone, then switch back to the app and scan the new QR code with the new phone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip this and restore the account on the new iPhone; without one, you set 23andMe up again either way. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Without the phone, and with no backup codes, 23andMe's answer is to contact it for help (23andMe). Its contact page starts with a chat assistant called Gene, which offers a live agent if it can't help (23andMe). 23andMe doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long this takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
