CleverTap 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

CleverTap is a customer engagement and analytics platform, and this guide is about the account you use to sign in to the CleverTap dashboard, where your team builds campaigns and reads reports. Two-factor authentication (2FA) isn't a choice there. Since December 1, 2022, CleverTap has made it mandatory for all projects, except those that sign in through single sign-on (SSO) (CleverTap). The only second factor CleverTap documents is a code from an authenticator app: no text messages, no email codes, no backup codes.

That has one big consequence. If you lose the app, you can't fix it yourself. A dashboard admin has to reset your key. This guide covers the setup, the reset, and how to plan for it. The steps use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the CleverTap steps come from CleverTap's own documentation, including the screenshots on its 2FA page, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a CleverTap account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

If your project uses SSO

You won't see any of this. CleverTap says SSO takes priority over 2FA, so users of a project with SSO turned on aren't asked for a code (CleverTap). Your company's identity provider handles sign-in instead (CleverTap), and any second factor is set up there.

Set up the authenticator app

There's no setting to look for. CleverTap creates a QR code for you when you sign in and asks you to scan it before you reach the dashboard (CleverTap):

1. Sign in to the CleverTap dashboard with your email and password.
2. On the Secure Your Account screen, CleverTap shows a QR code.
3. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the code. If the dashboard is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. Type the code Novaz shows into Enter your one-time code, then click Continue.

CleverTap's written steps name Google Authenticator, but the setup screen itself asks you to use your preferred authenticator app, so Novaz works too.

The screenshot also shows a Trouble Scanning? link under the QR code. CleverTap's page doesn't explain it. If it gives you a text key, tap + in Novaz, then Enter key manually, and paste it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key? CleverTap doesn't say how many digits its codes have or how often they change, so scanning the QR code is the safer choice.

Signing in afterwards

Each time you sign in, CleverTap shows a Verify Your Identity screen. Type the current code from Novaz and click Continue. The screenshot in CleverTap's documentation shows a Remember this device for 30 days checkbox on that screen, which cuts down the prompts on a computer you trust (CleverTap).

If CleverTap rejects your code

CleverTap's one tip is to make sure the device you sign in on and the phone with your authenticator app show the same time (CleverTap). On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Do the same on the computer. Novaz warns you when the iPhone's clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

CleverTap has no backup codes and no self-service recovery. Its documented fix, both for a missing code and for a lost device, is to ask an administrator of your project to reset your 2FA key. Only admins can do it (CleverTap). The admin:

1. Goes to Settings > Security > Two-Factor Authentication, which lists every user with 2FA set up.
2. Clicks the reset icon next to your email address.

The next time you sign in, CleverTap shows you a new QR code to scan, as in the setup above.

If no admin can get into the dashboard, CleverTap says to raise a ticket through its Help Center at help.clevertap.com (CleverTap). It doesn't say what proof Support asks for or how long a reset takes.

If you're an admin, it's worth acting on CleverTap's own advice from its user management page: give at least two people the Admin role (CleverTap). Then a lost phone on one admin's side is a quick fix by the other, not a support ticket. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones

CleverTap doesn't describe a way to move 2FA to a new phone yourself. The route it does describe is the admin reset: ask an admin to reset your key, then scan the new QR code with the new phone at your next sign-in (CleverTap). Keep the old phone until you've signed in with the new one. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead; without one, the new phone needs a fresh setup. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Can you turn it off?

No. CleverTap's FAQ says project-level 2FA can't be switched off because it's mandatory, and points you to a support ticket or your Customer Success Manager if it causes problems (CleverTap). The only documented way around it is SSO.

Official CleverTap help

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Single Sign On (SSO)
• Manage Users