Brandwatch 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your Brandwatch account is the login at signin.brandwatch.com for Consumer Research, Brandwatch's social listening tool, and for Social Media Management. Brandwatch requires two-factor authentication (2FA) on every user account (Brandwatch), and an authenticator app is the only method: there are no email or text-message codes (Brandwatch). The one exception: if your organization signs you in with single sign-on (SSO), Brandwatch doesn't ask for its own code.

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any time-based (TOTP) authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Brandwatch steps come from Brandwatch's own help centers for Consumer Research and Social Media Management, including their screenshots, which we read on October 19, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Brandwatch 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 get the 2FA screens right after Create Your Account in the invitation flow (Brandwatch). Existing users without 2FA see them at their next sign-in. Set aside a few quiet minutes: an interrupted session means starting over with a fresh QR code, and five wrong codes temporarily block you from finishing (Brandwatch).

1. Go to signin.brandwatch.com, enter your email address, select Continue, then enter your password and select Sign In (Brandwatch).
2. The Set up extra security screen opens. Step 1 of 3 asks you to install an authenticator app. With Novaz already on your iPhone, select Next.
3. Step 2 of 3 shows a QR code and a key. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the code. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If you can't scan, use the key, shown next to the QR code in groups of four characters. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type Brandwatch as the Service and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key? Then select Next.
5. On Step 3 of 3, type the code from Novaz in Verification code and select Next before the code changes.
6. The 2FA successfully enabled screen appears. Select Sign in.

Brandwatch's codes have 6 digits and change every 30 seconds (Brandwatch), the same settings Novaz uses for a typed key.

If the setup screens never appear, use Consumer Research's settings: Manage profile icon in the left sidebar > Profile details > Two-factor authentication. Scan the QR code, type the code from Novaz, and select Verify (Brandwatch). In Social Media Management, the setting is on the Security tab of Profile details (Brandwatch).

When Brandwatch asks for a code

At every sign-in with your password or with social login (Google, Facebook, X or LinkedIn). On the Sign in to your account screen, type the code under Enter code and select Sign in. Sessions end 24 hours after you sign in, whatever you're doing, so expect a code at least once a day (Brandwatch).

No backup codes

Brandwatch's help pages don't mention backup or recovery codes, and they allow one 2FA setup per user (Brandwatch). So back up Novaz: with iCloud backup or a backup file (Settings > Backup), a lost iPhone doesn't take your Brandwatch codes with it. Without one, a reset by your admin or Brandwatch Support is the only way back in.

If Brandwatch rejects your code

Brandwatch's troubleshooting points first to the phone's clock (Brandwatch). On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.

Two other causes Brandwatch names:

• Several Brandwatch entries in your app from repeated setups. Brandwatch suggests clearing out the old ones and starting fresh. Once you're signed in, reset 2FA from Profile details, then remove the old entries in Novaz: open each one and tap Remove account.
• A code request you never set up, often from a shared login. Brandwatch recommends resetting your password, then resetting 2FA in your settings.

More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Brandwatch says to add your account to the new phone before you switch (Brandwatch). With one setup per user, that means resetting 2FA while the old phone still works: sign in, open Two-factor authentication in Profile details, and scan the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip the reset and restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Someone has to reset 2FA for you:

• Brandwatch Support or your account admin can verify who you are and reset it. Put "2FA reset" in your request (Brandwatch).
• Support's email is support@brandwatch.com, with replies usually in 4 to 24 hours (Brandwatch). For Social Media Management, use social-support@brandwatch.com, since chat needs you signed in (Brandwatch).
• Social Media Management admins can do it themselves: Manage settings (gear icon) > Organization admin > Users, choose the user, then Security > Remove access. The user sets up 2FA again at the next sign-in (Brandwatch). Brandwatch's FAQ still says this may not work for Social Media Management-only users, so check with your admin.

The pages don't say what proof of identity Support asks for or how long a reset takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Can you turn it off?

No. Brandwatch requires it on every individual account, and only SSO gets around it. For an exemption, Brandwatch says to ask your account admin or Support (Brandwatch).

Official Brandwatch help

• Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in Consumer Research
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) FAQs and Troubleshooting
• Logging into Brandwatch
• Setting Up Your Brandwatch Account
• Contacting the Support Team in Consumer Intelligence
• Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in Social Media Management
• FAQ: Issues Logging In