Element 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your EMS account
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
On this page
Element has two kinds of account, and this guide is about only one of them. Your EMS account is the one you use in Element's customer portal to buy and manage subscriptions, such as a hosted Matrix server, and it holds your billing details. Your Matrix account is the one you chat with in the Element apps (Element). Element documents two-factor authentication (2FA) with an authenticator app for the EMS account. If you have an Element One subscription, the same 2FA protects it too, because Element One signs you in with your EMS account. It doesn't cover Matrix accounts on a dedicated server Element hosts for you (Element).
The most important thing to know before you start: Element supports one authenticator per account. Its FAQ warns that if you add more than one 2FA device, you won't be able to sign in (Element). So set it up once, on one phone.
The steps below use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Element steps come from Element's own documentation site, docs.element.io, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Element account. Element's pages don't all use the same labels, so what you see may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
Element's guide to securing an EMS account describes these steps (Element):
- Sign in to the customer portal at customer.element.io. Element's docs say to get there from element.io with Sign In, then Admin Dashboard. On today's element.io, that menu item reads Customer portal.
- Click Your Account at the top right, then Account.
- At the bottom of Edit your profile, click Authentication Settings. This opens your Account Console.
- Under Account Security, click Signing In. In the Two-factor authentication section, click Setup an authenticator application. (Element's FAQ calls this button Set up Authenticator Application.)
- Sign in again when Element asks you to confirm it's you.
- Element shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- If you can't scan it, click Unable to scan. Element shows the code as text, with its configuration values below it. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type the text code as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Type the current code from Novaz, give the device a name you'll recognize, and click Submit.
When it works, the device appears in the Two-factor authentication section.
Element's pages don't list the code settings. Novaz's manual entry always makes 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds. If the configuration values under the code say anything else, go back and scan the QR code, which carries those settings.
No recovery codes are documented
Element's pages don't mention backup or recovery codes for the EMS account, and they don't describe a second sign-in method. So make a Novaz backup: turn on iCloud backup (PRO) or save a file with Export to file…, both under Settings > Backup. Without one, the keys exist only on that iPhone, and that phone is the only key to the account. It also helps to keep the email address on your EMS account current; the same Element page shows how to change it under Your Account > Account (Element).
When Element asks for a code
The FAQ ties the authenticator to signing in to the EMS control panel and to Element One. Element's docs don't say whether it asks on every sign-in or can remember a device.
If Element rejects your code
Element's docs don't cover rejected codes. First, check the iPhone's clock: 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
Element's docs don't explain how to replace or remove the authenticator. Because of the one-device limit, don't add your new phone alongside the old one to try it out. Contact Element support before you switch, while you can still sign in. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new iPhone and the same Element entry keeps working there. Without one, the new phone has to be set up from a fresh QR code. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Element doesn't document a recovery process for a lost authenticator. The support routes its docs give for EMS customers are the support page at customer.element.io/support, which you use while signed in, and the email address ems-support@element.io (Element). If you're locked out, email is the one you can still use. Element doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long a reset takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Element's docs also don't describe turning 2FA off.
