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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

DreamHost 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  2. Your backup codes
  3. Signing in afterwards
  4. If DreamHost rejects your code
  5. Getting a new phone
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. Turning MFA off
  8. Official DreamHost help

Your DreamHost account is the login for the DreamHost panel, where you run your hosting, domains and billing. DreamHost calls two-factor authentication Multifactor Authentication (MFA). It's optional but recommended (DreamHost). The second factor is either an authenticator app or a YubiKey, and only YubiKeys with Yubico OTP work (FIDO-only keys don't) (DreamHost).

DreamHost's articles are written around Google Authenticator, but its overview says you can use "any MFA app that can scan a QR code" (DreamHost). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Other authenticator apps follow the same steps.

One limit: MFA covers the panel, not your mailboxes, because DreamHost's email service doesn't support it (DreamHost).

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

The setting lives in the Multifactor Authentication section of the panel's Security page (DreamHost). DreamHost's setup article describes these steps (DreamHost):

  1. Log in to the DreamHost panel and open the Security page.
  2. Under Multifactor Authentication, type your DreamHost password in Current Password.
  3. In the Multifactor Authentication Type menu, choose Google Authenticator, Time-Based (recommended). Despite the name, this is the option for Novaz. Skip Google Authenticator, Counter-Based: Novaz makes time-based codes only, so it can't use a counter-based setup.
  4. Click Get Started. DreamHost shows a QR code, with what it calls a 16-digit secret key underneath.
  5. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and aim the camera at the screen. If the panel is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  6. To type the key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually. Put DreamHost in Service and the secret key in Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
  7. Type the 6-digit code Novaz shows into the passcode field, then click Activate!.
  8. A Success! box appears with your backup codes. Write them down before you leave the page.

DreamHost doesn't say how often its codes change, so scan the QR code if you can: the code settings travel with it. DreamHost also lets you scan the same QR code on more than one device during setup, which gives you a spare.

Your backup codes

The Success! box is the one place DreamHost's help mentions backup codes, and it strongly advises saving them (DreamHost). It doesn't say how many you get or whether each one works only once.

Novaz's keys stay on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, so these codes are your way back if the phone is lost. Keep them on paper or in a password manager, away from the phone. See 2FA backup codes.

Signing in afterwards

With MFA on, the login page adds a Multifactor Authentication Code field and a Remember this computer for: menu, which sets how long that computer can skip the code (DreamHost).

Expect one odd thing on a computer that has never signed in to your panel. The code field isn't there at first, so your first try fails. DreamHost then recognizes the account and shows the field, and you can finish signing in with a code (DreamHost). That first failure is expected.

A password reset doesn't skip MFA either. DreamHost's reset link only gets you in if you still have your authenticator or a backup code (DreamHost).

If DreamHost rejects your code

DreamHost's help has no advice on rejected codes. Start with the iPhone's clock, since time-based codes depend on it: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is off by 15 seconds or more. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Getting a new phone

DreamHost's advice is to turn MFA off in the panel before you switch phones, then sign in from the new one and run the setup again (DreamHost). With Novaz you have another option: restore your accounts on the new iPhone from iCloud backup or a backup file. Without one, this fresh setup is the way to move. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

DreamHost lists two ways back in: a backup code, or DreamHost support (DreamHost). When you can't log in, support only takes requests through the form at dreamhost.com/support. Pick I can't log in to my DreamHost account from its menu (DreamHost).

The Knowledge Base doesn't say what proof support needs before it removes MFA, or how long that takes. It does say support may ask the secret question you set on the Security page if you lose access (DreamHost). Set one while you can still sign in.

Once you're back in, if the lost phone could be in someone else's hands, use the Regenerate Key button. DreamHost says it cancels the old key and makes a new one (DreamHost). Add the new key to Novaz. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning MFA off

On the Security page, click Disable in the Multifactor Authentication section, and a success message confirms it (DreamHost). Then remove the DreamHost entry from Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official DreamHost help

More guides: Domain registrars