Braintree 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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Braintree, the payment gateway that PayPal runs as PayPal Braintree, gives every merchant a Control Panel where staff look up transactions, issue refunds and manage API keys. Two-factor authentication (2FA) there isn't optional. Since September 2023, every Braintree user has to turn it on before they can use the Control Panel, and anyone who hasn't gets a setup assistant right after signing in (Braintree).
2FA is set up per user, not per business. Each person on your team signs in with their own credentials and sets up their own second factor (Braintree). Your options are an authenticator app or text messages, and you can add a hardware security key once one of those is on. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Braintree steps come from Braintree's own support articles on developer.paypal.com, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Braintree account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Signing in with PayPal instead
Braintree lets you use your PayPal username and password for the Control Panel. If you switch to that, your Braintree 2FA settings don't carry over, and you'd set up 2FA on the PayPal side instead (Braintree). The steps below are for users who sign in with Braintree credentials. Sandbox and production are separate environments that can have different logins, so you may need to do this in each one (Braintree).
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
If the setup assistant appears when you sign in, follow it. To start the setup yourself, Braintree describes these steps (Braintree):
- Sign in to the Control Panel and select your user icon in the top right corner.
- Choose My User and scroll down to Two-Factor Authentication.
- Select Enable and enter your password.
- Braintree shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the Control Panel 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 code Novaz shows to finish.
Skip the Use SMS As Primary link on the same screen. It makes text messages your main method instead of the app.
Braintree's article doesn't mention a text key to type instead of scanning, and doesn't say how many digits its codes have or how often they change. Scanning the QR code is the safe route, since it passes those settings to Novaz.
When Braintree asks for a code
You need a second factor every time you sign in to the Control Panel. Braintree asks for them in a fixed order: a hardware security key if you registered one, then the authenticator app, then a text message code (Braintree).
If you can't reach your authenticator app at sign-in, select Text a code instead to get a code by text. To compare the two methods, see Authenticator app vs SMS.
No backup codes
Braintree's article doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. Your fallbacks are the text message option and the people on your account who can reset your 2FA, described below. Without a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), its keys exist only on your iPhone, so a second method you can still reach matters.
If Braintree rejects your code
Braintree's help doesn't cover rejected app codes. 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
Since September 2023 you can't turn 2FA off for yourself. Instead, My User has a Reset 2FA option for when you change your phone number or your authenticator app (Braintree):
- Open My User from your user icon and scroll to Two-Factor Authentication.
- Select Reset 2FA, enter your password, and follow the steps to scan a new QR code.
Braintree warns that if you confirm the reset and don't finish, you'll have to set up 2FA again from My User or at your next sign-in. Do this while you still have the old phone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead; without one, you'll add Braintree on the new one from scratch. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Try Text a code instead first. If that doesn't work either, ask an Account Admin on your Braintree account to turn off 2FA for you: under the gear icon, Team, your user, then Disable in the Two Factor Authentication section. Only users with the Account Admin role can do this. You'll be asked to set up 2FA again the next time you sign in (Braintree).
If no admin can help, or you're the only admin, Braintree says to contact its support team through the Get Help request form (Braintree). Braintree doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long this takes. For general steps, see Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
