Bird 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Bird, formerly MessageBird, is a messaging platform for developers, and SparkPost now runs under it as Bird Email. Its bird.com dashboard is where you manage workspaces, API keys, billing and sending. Bird calls two-factor authentication multi-factor authentication (MFA), and it's optional. You can pick from three methods: codes from an authenticator app, SMS codes, or a passkey (Bird).

This guide covers the authenticator app. The steps use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Bird steps come from Bird's own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 24, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Bird account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Which Bird account this is

Bird runs more than one platform, and they don't share logins. Bird's documentation lists three, each with its own sign-in (Bird):

• bird.com, signed in at bird.com/dashboard. This is the account the MFA steps below are for.
• MessageBird, now called Connectivity Platform, at dashboard.messagebird.com. An old MessageBird account still works and is kept apart from a bird.com account, even with the same email address.
• Bird CRM (the Bird Engagement Platform), at app.bird.com.

Bird's MFA page only describes the bird.com dashboard. It doesn't say how two-factor works on the MessageBird or Bird CRM platforms. If you came from SparkPost, the old SparkPost two-factor help page now sends you to this same Bird MFA page (Bird).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Bird's documentation gives these steps (Bird):

1. Sign in to the Bird dashboard and open your profile's Security settings.
2. Choose the option to add an authenticator app. Bird's page doesn't name the exact button.
3. Bird shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot, tap + and choose Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If you'd rather type it, Bird also shows the secret as text. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually. Put "Bird" in Service, your email in Account if you like, and the secret in Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Type the six-digit code from Novaz into Bird to confirm.
6. Save the recovery codes Bird gives you (next section).

Bird then emails you to say MFA was turned on. If you get that email and didn't make the change, Bird says to reset your password right away and check your active sessions and audit log.

Recovery codes

Bird hands out recovery codes the first time you turn on MFA. Each one works a single time, and making a new set cancels every older code. Bird suggests a password manager or another secure place for them (Bird).

Treat these codes as your backup. If that phone is gone and you have no Novaz backup, or your backup file predates Bird, a recovery code is how you get back in. More on storing them in 2FA backup codes.

When Bird asks for a code

You can sign in to Bird with an email link or six-digit email code, a password, or a linked Google or GitHub account. Whichever you use, with MFA on Bird asks for your second factor before it opens the session. A passkey, an authenticator code, an SMS code or a recovery code all count (Bird).

Sessions end after 48 hours with no activity, or after 14 days at most, so expect the prompt fairly often.

Don't mix up the two six-digit codes. The one Bird emails you is for the first sign-in step. The one in Novaz is for the MFA prompt.

If Bird rejects your code

Bird's pages don't cover a rejected authenticator code. The usual cause is the iPhone's clock: go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. For other causes, see Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Bird doesn't describe moving an authenticator to a new phone. Its page does say you can add and remove factors in Security settings. So while you still have the old phone, add the authenticator on the new one, then remove the old entry. With Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, you can restore the account on the new iPhone instead. Without one, you'll scan a fresh QR code there. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Bird's page doesn't say whether you can enroll two authenticator apps at once.

If you lose your authenticator

Sign in with a recovery code, or with another factor you set up, such as a passkey or SMS. Then add the authenticator again in Security settings. Bird's documentation describes no way to recover an account when you have no factor left. Its sign-in help sends other sign-in problems to support, but it doesn't say what proof support asks for or how long it takes (Bird). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Remove the factor in Security settings. MFA goes off once no verified factor is left (Bird). In Novaz, open the Bird account and tap Remove account.

Official Bird help

• Login, password, and MFA
• Troubleshoot signing in
• Coming from MessageBird