Datadog 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Datadog is the monitoring service engineering teams use for dashboards, logs and alerts. It calls two-factor authentication multi-factor authentication (MFA), and it only applies when you log in with a Datadog email address and password. If you use Sign in with Google or your company's single sign-on (SAML), the setting doesn't appear, and any second step comes from your identity provider instead (Datadog).

For password users, MFA is optional unless an administrator requires it for the organization. The one factor Datadog documents is an authenticator app that makes time-based codes (TOTP), and an account can hold only one. The steps below use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone; other authenticator apps work the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Datadog steps come from Datadog's own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Datadog 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

Datadog runs several separate sites, such as app.datadoghq.com (US1) and app.datadoghq.eu (EU1) (Datadog). Use the one where you normally log in.

1. Log in with your email address and password.
2. Click your profile avatar in the lower-left corner and go to Personal Settings (Datadog).
3. Under Security, select Password & Authentication. On US1 that's app.datadoghq.com/personal-settings/password-and-authentication.
4. Select Add next to Authenticator App (Datadog).
5. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at Datadog's QR code. If Datadog is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
6. Type the newest code from Novaz into Datadog's prompt to confirm.
7. Save the recovery codes (next section).

Datadog's documentation mentions only the QR code. It doesn't say whether a text key is offered, or how many digits the codes have and how often they change, so scanning is the safer route: the QR code passes those settings to your app. If you do get a key, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it into Setup key. Novaz then makes 6-digit codes every 30 seconds. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Save the recovery codes before you close the window

Datadog shows recovery codes at the end of setup and can't show them again later (Datadog). Each one works once. Unless you use iCloud backup or a backup file, Novaz keeps its keys only on your iPhone, so these codes are your way back in if that phone is lost. Store them in a password manager or on paper, away from the phone. More in 2FA backup codes.

If your organization requires MFA

An administrator, or anyone with the Org Management permission, can turn on Require Multi-Factor Authentication under Login Methods. Everyone who logs in to that organization with an email and password then has to register a second factor before getting in, and admins get a View users without MFA link to see who hasn't (Datadog).

Datadog describes the code as part of the email-and-password login. Its pages don't mention trusted devices or codes for other actions.

If Datadog rejects your code

Datadog's documentation doesn't cover rejected codes. Codes depend on the time, so start with the iPhone's clock: in Settings > General > Date & Time, make sure Set Automatically is on. Novaz shows a warning if the clock drifts 15 seconds or more. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

Datadog documents two ways back in, both from the login page (Datadog):

• With a recovery code: enter your email and password, select Log in, then Don't have access to your authenticator?. Type an unused recovery code and click Verify.
• Without recovery codes: after Don't have access to your authenticator?, choose Don't have access to your recovery codes? Get a one time recovery link via email. Open the email titled Recovery link for logging into your Datadog account and select Log in to Datadog.

Once you're in, Datadog recommends removing the lost device and adding a new one. Its pages describe no support route beyond these two.

Because of that email link, your email account protects your Datadog login too. Datadog warns that someone with access to your email may be able to turn MFA off, so protect the mailbox with its own two-factor authentication. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Moving to a new iPhone

Datadog's limit is short: "MFA supports at most one authenticator app" (Datadog). So you can't add the new phone next to the old one. Remove the current authenticator on Password & Authentication, then add it again from the new phone, while the old one still works. Datadog doesn't name the remove button or say whether you get new recovery codes; if it shows some, save them. In an organization that requires MFA, add the new phone straight away. If you use iCloud backup or a backup file in Novaz, you can skip this: restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the same authenticator keeps working. Without one, each account is set up again. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Official Datadog help

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
• Configuring Login Methods
• Getting Started with Datadog Sites