Crowdin 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Crowdin is a localization platform where companies host their translation projects and volunteers and vendors translate and proofread strings. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional for your own account, but a project can make it a condition of entry. A project's settings can require it from every member, or only from members with the Manager role or the Developer / Translation Requestor role (Crowdin). So if a project you work on asks you to turn on 2FA, this is the setting you need.

Crowdin offers two second factors: an authenticator app, and security keys or passkeys (Crowdin). This guide sets up the authenticator app with Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way, even though Crowdin's help names Google Authenticator.

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

This guide is about accounts on crowdin.com. Crowdin Enterprise organizations have their own account settings and security rules, described in Crowdin's Enterprise documentation.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Crowdin's documentation describes these steps (Crowdin):

1. Open your Account Settings and go to the Account tab.
2. In the Authenticator app section, click Enable. Crowdin may ask for your password first, because changes to authentication settings count as a sensitive action (Crowdin).
3. Crowdin shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. 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. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz and click Next.
5. Download your recovery codes.

Crowdin's help doesn't mention a text key you can type instead of scanning, so plan to scan the QR code. If you do find a key on the setup screen, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Your recovery codes are the backup

Crowdin gives you recovery codes at the end of setup, for when you can't reach your phone (Crowdin). Without iCloud backup or a backup file, Novaz keeps its keys only on your iPhone, so these codes are what stands between a lost phone and a slow reset request. Save the file somewhere other than that iPhone, such as a password manager or a printed copy. Crowdin's help doesn't say how to make new codes later. More in 2FA backup codes.

When Crowdin asks for a code

Crowdin's reset steps show the Two-Factor Authentication screen appearing after you enter your email (or username) and password (Crowdin). The help doesn't say whether Crowdin skips it on devices you've used before.

Turning on 2FA also changes New Device Verification, which emails you a code when you sign in from a new device. You can only switch that off once you use an authenticator app or a security key (Crowdin).

If Crowdin rejects your code

Crowdin's help doesn't cover rejected codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Crowdin doesn't document how to move 2FA to a new phone, or how to turn the authenticator app off. In Novaz, iCloud backup or a backup file restores your accounts on the new iPhone. Either way, keep the old phone and your recovery codes until the new phone is set up. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Sign in with one of your recovery codes. If you've lost the codes too, Crowdin has a reset request (Crowdin):

1. On the Crowdin login page, enter your email (or username) and password.
2. On the Two-Factor Authentication screen, click Request two-factor authentication reset.
3. On the Reset 2FA methods page, give as much proof as you can. Crowdin checks automatically whether you've signed in from this browser before. You can also click Send code to get a code by email, and paste a personal access token if you have one saved from your account.
4. Click Submit. Crowdin emails you to confirm it received the request.

The support team reviews the request and may contact you for more details. After it confirms your identity, there's a waiting period of three working days before 2FA comes off. Sending the request from a browser you've used for Crowdin before gives Crowdin one more piece of proof. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Crowdin help

• Account Settings
• Privacy & Collaboration Settings