Arduino 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your Arduino account

One Arduino account signs you in to all of Arduino's websites, apps and services (Arduino), Arduino Cloud and the Forum among them. Arduino calls its two-factor authentication 2-Step Verification. It's optional, and the only method Arduino's help describes is a code from an authenticator app, or from a password manager that can make time-based (TOTP) codes (Arduino).

The catch: Arduino gives you a single recovery code, and if you lose both your authenticator and that code, its support team can't get you back in. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Arduino steps come from Arduino's own help center articles and their screenshots, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Arduino account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2-Step Verification

Arduino's help article gives these steps (Arduino). Its screenshots show buttons in capitals.

1. Sign in at id.arduino.cc/security.
2. Find the 2 steps verification section and click Activate.
3. A window called Configure Authenticator app shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the window is open on your iPhone, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If scanning doesn't work, click Can't scan the barcode? and Arduino shows the key as text. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually. Fill in Service, and type the key as the Setup key. More in What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Click Next. Type the 6-digit code Novaz shows into Enter Code, then click Verify.
6. The next screen, Here's your Recovery Code, shows your code. Click Download code or write it down, tick I have safely recorded this code, and click Next.
7. Arduino's article says you then enter a code from your app once more to finish.

Arduino's codes are 6 digits and change every 30 seconds, which matches what Novaz makes from a typed key. Arduino doesn't say how long its key is, so if Novaz won't accept the key, scan the QR code instead.

Save the recovery code

You get one recovery code, not a list; Arduino describes it as 24 digits long (Arduino). It works once. After you use it, Arduino shows a replacement, which you must save too.

If you clicked Download code, search your computer for a file named Arduino 2-step verification recovery code, with Spotlight on a Mac or File Explorer on Windows.

Unless you've made a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), this code is what stands between a lost phone and a lost account. Keep it away from the phone, on paper or in a password manager. Arduino also notes that keeping this sign-in information backed up is your job, not theirs (Arduino). See 2FA backup codes.

Signing in with 2-Step Verification

After setup, Arduino asks for your password and then a code (Arduino). The screen is titled 2-Step Verification - Authenticator app and has a Don't ask again on this device box. Arduino's help doesn't say how long that box keeps the prompt away.

You can also sign up with Google, GitHub or Apple instead of a password (Arduino). Arduino's 2-Step Verification articles don't say whether the code is asked for when you sign in that way.

If Arduino rejects your code

Arduino's help has no advice for a refused code. The usual cause is the iPhone's clock: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

New phone

Arduino's advice for a new phone or a factory reset is to disable 2-Step Verification first, then turn it on again with the new device (Arduino). Disabling needs a signed-in session and a confirmation email, so do it while you still have the old phone. If you use Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead, and the codes keep working. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Use the recovery code (Arduino):

1. Sign in as usual. On the 2-Step Verification screen, click Use recovery code.
2. Type the code into Enter Recovery Code and click Verify.
3. Arduino shows a new recovery code. Save it, tick I have safely recorded this code, and click Continue.
4. Disable 2-Step Verification and set it up again with your new authenticator.

Without the recovery code, there's no way back. Arduino's help says the only option is to create a new account, and warns that "Arduino support will be unable to assist you" (Arduino). Arduino's password reset article sends accounts with two-factor authentication to the recovery code article too (Arduino). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning it off

1. Sign in at id.arduino.cc/security.
2. In the 2 steps verification section, click Disable.
3. Follow the instructions in the email from noreply@arduino.cc, sent to your account's address (Arduino).

Once it's off, open Arduino in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official Arduino help

• Enable 2-Step Verification for your Arduino account
• Recover an account protected by 2-Step Verification
• Disable 2-Step Verification for your Arduino account
• Create an Arduino account
• Reset the password for your Arduino account
• Arduino Cloud - Shared responsibility model