Avast 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your Avast Account

Your Avast Account is the portal for your paid Avast subscriptions: download links, activation codes, billing and order history (Avast). Its two-factor authentication (2FA), called 2-step verification, is optional, and the only method Avast's help describes is an authenticator app. Once it's on, you enter your password and a 6-digit code at each sign-in (Avast).

Avast's instructions are written around Google Authenticator, but the newer ones add: "You do not have to use the Google Authenticator app specifically" (Avast). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

Two things set Avast apart: it's moving accounts to a new portal in phases, so you may see either of two sets of screens, and you get one recovery code, not a list.

How we checked this guide: the Avast steps come from Avast's own support articles, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Avast 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

A My Account menu in the top-right corner means you're on the new portal; tiles such as Account settings mean the current one. Avast's article has a tab for each (Avast).

New portal:

1. Sign in to your Avast Account. In the top-right corner, click My Account, then Account Settings.
2. Under 2-step verification, click Set up.
3. On the instructions screen, click Next.
4. Avast shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the page is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. Enter the 6-digit code from Novaz and click Verify.
6. Click Continue. Choose Download or Print the recovery code, then click Next and Done.

Current portal:

1. Sign in at id.avast.com and click Go to account settings in the Account settings tile.
2. Under Security, click Turn on 2-step verification. Enter your password and click Continue.
3. The next screen helps you install Google Authenticator. Its Or scan a QR code to get the app option shows a download link for that app, not your Avast key. Don't scan it with Novaz.
4. Click Continue to setup and scan the QR code that appears with Novaz, as above.
5. Enter the 6-digit code from Novaz and click Turn on.
6. Save the recovery code, then click Close.

Neither version of the article mentions a text key to type instead, so plan to scan. If your screen does show one, use +, then Enter key manually in Novaz. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Your one recovery code

At setup, Avast gives you a single recovery code. On the current portal it starts with R- followed by 25 digits in five groups of five. The new portal calls it a 25-character code (Avast). Avast uses "recovery code" and "recovery key" for the same thing.

The code works once. On the new portal, using it turns 2-step verification off, and you get a new code only by turning it back on. Avast's help doesn't describe seeing the code again or making a new one while 2-step verification stays on.

If the phone is gone and you have no Novaz backup, this code is your way back in. Keep it on paper or in a password manager. More in 2FA backup codes.

When Avast asks for a code

Every sign-in with your email and password asks for a code, and Avast mentions no trusted-device option (Avast). You can also sign in with Continue with Google (Avast), but Avast doesn't say whether that asks for the code.

If Avast rejects your code

Avast's only tip is that each code lasts 30 seconds, so enter it before it changes. If codes keep failing, check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Avast doesn't describe moving to a new phone. The documented route is to turn 2-step verification off while the old phone still works, then set it up again on the new one, with a fresh recovery code. With 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 your recovery code (Avast):

• New portal: sign in with your email address and password. On the 2-step screen, open Use another method and select Use Recovery Code. Enter the code, click Verify, pass the security check if asked, then Got it. 2-step verification is now off; set it up again on your new phone.
• Current portal: on the sign-in page, click Troubles with the authenticator app?, enter the recovery code and click Turn off.

Without the code, the current portal offers Contact support for help. Avast doesn't say what proof support asks for or how long it takes, and its new-portal steps don't mention support. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

• New portal: sign in with a code, click My Account > Account Settings, and under 2-step verification click Turn off.
• Current portal: click Go to account settings, then Turn off under Security. Enter your password, then a code from Novaz, clicking Continue after each. Confirm with Turn off and click Close.

Then open the Avast entry in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official Avast help

• Protecting your Avast Account with 2-step verification
• Avast Account - FAQs