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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

Availity 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for Availity Essentials

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  2. Save your backup codes
  3. When Availity asks for a code
  4. If Availity rejects your code
  5. Changing phones
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. No phones allowed at work?
  8. Official Availity help

Availity Essentials is the free portal US provider offices use to check eligibility, submit claims and track payments (Availity). Two-step authentication isn't optional there: "Every Availity Essentials user is required to enroll in 2-step authentication" (Availity).

Availity is also retiring text and voice codes. Since June 21, 2025, new enrollments can't choose them, and its timeline ends in 2026 with an authenticator app required for everyone (Availity, Availity). What's left is an authenticator app of your choice, a browser-based authenticator, or a hard token (Availity). The change doesn't apply if you sign in through Essentials Pro or single sign-on (SSO).

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Availity steps come from Availity's own training courses, PDFs, screenshots and setup video on availity.com, linked below, which we read on October 19, 2026. Availity's online help center blocked automated reading, so we read one help page in an archived copy from July 2025 on web.archive.org. We haven't tested the steps on an Availity account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

New users set up the authenticator while creating their account (Availity). If you still get text or voice codes, select Update Now after you finish 2-step authentication at sign-in. Or start any time from My Account (Availity):

  1. Log in to Availity Essentials.
  2. Select your name in the top navigation bar, then My Account.
  3. Open the Security tab. In the 2-Step Authentication section, select Update 2-step Authentication.
  4. Select Add another device.

Availity's screenshot and demo video show the screens that follow (Availity, Availity):

  1. The Authenticator Set Up page shows a QR code. Scan it from inside Novaz: tap +, then Scan QR code. If the page is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  2. If you can't scan it, the page also shows a secret key with a copy button. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste or type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
  3. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz in Authenticator Code, with no spaces, and select Submit.
  4. The Confirmation page lists your Backup Codes. Save them, then select Continue.

Availity doesn't say how often its codes change or how long the key is. Scanning the QR code is safer, because it passes those settings to Novaz. A typed key gets 6-digit codes every 30 seconds.

Save your backup codes

Each backup code works only once. Availity says to store them securely offline and use one only when you've misplaced your enrolled device (Availity). If you've lost the phone and have no Novaz backup, these codes are your way back in. Availity's help topic on finding them later is only open to signed-in users. See 2FA backup codes.

When Availity asks for a code

Availity asks in select situations, such as signing in from a new device (Availity). Its archived help page adds unusual activity, such as signing in at an odd time of day, and apps that need extra security, such as Transaction Enrollment (Availity).

If Availity rejects your code

Too many wrong codes lock your account for a while. Select Close on the error, then Forgot your password? on the sign-in page, and reset your password. Sign in again and enter a fresh code (Availity, Availity).

Before you try again, check your iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Availity says to save your backup codes before you switch, then move your accounts with your app's own tools (Availity). In Novaz, those tools are iCloud backup and the backup file: restore either on the new iPhone and Availity keeps working. Without one, add Availity again on the new iPhone with the Add another device steps above while the old phone still works. Availity's pages don't say whether the old device stays enrolled or how to remove it. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

  • You have a backup code: sign in with it, then set up the authenticator on a new device (Availity).
  • No backup codes: ask your organization's Availity administrator, who manages your access (Availity, Availity).
  • Still stuck: call Availity Client Services at 1-800-282-4548, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern (Availity). They'll ask your security questions to verify you (Availity).

Availity doesn't say how long getting back in takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

No phones allowed at work?

Novaz runs on iPhone. If your office bans phones, Availity suggests an authenticator browser extension, a hard token bought from a third party, or inbound SSO, which can cost extra (Availity).

Official Availity help

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