CrashPlan 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

CrashPlan backs up computers for businesses, and one account signs you in to both the CrashPlan app and the web console. Its two-factor authentication (2FA) has no switch in your own settings. An administrator turns 2FA on for the whole organization, and then each person sets up a method the next time they sign in (CrashPlan). New accounts start with it off, and CrashPlan recommends turning it on (CrashPlan).

You get two choices: an authenticator app, which CrashPlan recommends, or a code sent by email. If your company signs you in with single sign-on (SSO), your identity provider handles any second step instead. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the CrashPlan steps come from CrashPlan's own support center, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The site blocks automated visits, so we read the articles through its public article feed. We haven't tested the steps on a CrashPlan account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

If you're the administrator

To turn it on for your organization (CrashPlan):

1. Sign in to the CrashPlan console and go to Administration > Environment > Organizations.
2. Click the organization, open the action menu, and select Edit.
3. On the Security tab, find Local two-factor Authentication. Clear Inherit setting from parent if it's selected.
4. Select Enabled, then Save. The lock icon applies the setting to every child organization.

You need the Customer Cloud Admin role, or Multi-Factor Auth Admin plus a role that can edit organization settings. API scripts that sign in with a user's password stop working once 2FA is on, so move them to token authentication first.

Set up the authenticator app

After 2FA is on, CrashPlan asks you to pick a method during your next sign-in (CrashPlan):

1. Sign in with your email address and password at console.crashplan.com, or from the CrashPlan app, which finishes sign-in in your web browser.
2. When CrashPlan asks for a method, select Authenticator app and click Confirm.
3. CrashPlan shows a QR code and a text key it calls the secret key. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the code. If the page is on your iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. To type the key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually, enter CrashPlan as the Service and paste the key into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. In Enter 6-digit verification code, type the code Novaz shows, then click Sign In.

Every sign-in, and no backup codes

CrashPlan asks for a code at every sign-in, in the app and the console (CrashPlan). Its articles mention neither a way to remember a device nor backup codes. Your fallback is a reset by email, described below, so keep access to the mailbox you sign in with, especially if you don't use a Novaz backup, since its keys then exist only on one iPhone.

If CrashPlan rejects your code

CrashPlan's sign-in help says a correct code fails when a device's clock is off, and the page then reads "Unable to sign in, user is unauthorized." (CrashPlan). Check the computer you sign in on and your iPhone. On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when its clock is 15 seconds or more off.

Repeated failed attempts also lock the account for up to 30 minutes, with the same general error, and support can't lift the lock early. If a clock won't stay in sync, CrashPlan suggests resetting 2FA and choosing Email verification. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator or change phones

Both go through a reset. Once it's done, CrashPlan asks you to set up 2FA again at your next sign-in (CrashPlan):

1. Go to the CrashPlan console and enter your email address.
2. Click Don't have your code?.
3. Enter your email address and password, then click Reset Two-Factor Authentication.
4. Open the email from noreply@crashplan.com and click the link. It works once and expires after 24 hours.
5. Sign in again and set up the authenticator on your new phone.

The email only goes out if your password is right, though the confirmation screen looks the same either way. If you're unsure of your password, reset it first; that needs only your email address, not a code (CrashPlan).

If you can't reach your mailbox, an administrator can reset your 2FA from Administration > Environment > Users: open your profile, then the action menu, then Reset two-factor authentication. If no administrator can sign in, CrashPlan points to its technical support team.

Old codes stop working after a reset. In Novaz, open the old CrashPlan entry and tap Remove account. If you're only changing phones, restoring Novaz on the new iPhone from iCloud backup or a backup file brings CrashPlan along without a reset. Without a backup, set CrashPlan up again on the new iPhone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Users can't turn it off. An administrator selects Disabled in the same Local two-factor Authentication section, which removes everyone's setup (CrashPlan).

Official CrashPlan help

• How two-factor authentication works in CrashPlan
• Set up two-factor authentication
• Reset or change your two-factor authentication
• Manage two-factor authentication for an organization
• Troubleshoot signing in to CrashPlan
• Change or reset your CrashPlan account password