Ente 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Ente makes Ente Photos, the Ente Auth authenticator and Ente Locker, and one Ente account can sign you in to all three. That matters for two-factor authentication (2FA): turn it on in one app and it applies to the same account everywhere, including Ente Auth (Ente). 2FA is optional, but Ente recommends it. The methods are a time-based code from an authenticator app (TOTP), a hardware security key, or a passkey (Ente).
This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone to hold the code. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Ente steps come from Ente's own help pages, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Ente account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Where to keep the code for Ente itself
If you use Ente Auth for your other accounts, Ente warns about a loop it calls Enteception. When the code for your Ente account lives inside Ente Auth, and that same account signs you in to Ente Auth, you can end up needing Ente Auth to get into Ente Auth (Ente). Its suggestions include writing the recovery key on paper or using a separate account for Ente Auth.
Keeping the Ente code in Novaz, a separate app, avoids that loop. You still need the recovery key, covered below.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
Ente's help gives the place but not the screens, and its pages don't agree on the path:
- Ente Photos: Settings > Security, in the mobile or desktop app (Ente).
- Ente Locker: Settings > Account > Two-factor authentication (Ente).
It's one account, so you do this once.
- Open the setting above in any Ente app you're signed in to.
- When Ente shows a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- If Ente offers a text key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually, fill in Service (for example, Ente) and type the key as the Setup key. Ente's help doesn't say whether this key is shown or what it's called. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Type the current code from Novaz into Ente to finish.
Ente's help doesn't say how often the codes change. Scanning the QR code is safer, because it carries the code settings to Novaz.
Passkeys take over from codes
If you add a passkey, Ente uses it instead of your authenticator codes (Ente). You add and remove passkeys through the Passkey option in settings, which opens the Ente Accounts web app at accounts.ente.com. Once you have one, a sign-in on a new device opens that web app and asks for the passkey there, not for a code from Novaz.
Your recovery key is the backup
Ente doesn't describe separate backup codes. Its fallback is the 24-word recovery key you saved when you created the account, which can get you past 2FA if you're locked out (Ente). If you're still signed in somewhere, you can view it under Settings > Account > Recovery key after entering your password (Ente). Ente support can't regenerate it.
Unless you back up Novaz with iCloud backup or Export to file… (both in Settings > Backup), its keys exist only on your iPhone. Either way, treat the recovery key as the copy that has to survive losing the phone. Write it down or keep it in a password manager.
If Ente rejects your code
Ente's Locker troubleshooting page suggests these checks (Ente):
- Make sure your phone sets the date and time automatically. On iPhone: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.
- Read the code from the entry for this Ente account, not another site or another Ente account.
- Wait for the next code and try again.
More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
If you lose your authenticator
- Use the recovery key. At sign-in, choose the recovery option and enter the 24 words. For passkeys, Ente says to cancel the browser prompt and choose Recover two-factor in the error that follows (Ente).
- No recovery key, but you know your password: email support@ente.com from the address on your account. Ente says support may be able to help after checking that the account is yours, but that access to the email alone isn't enough and help isn't guaranteed (Ente). Never send your password, recovery key, setup key or codes. Ente doesn't say how long this takes.
More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Changing phones or turning 2FA off
Ente's help doesn't describe moving the code to a new phone or turning 2FA off. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new phone and your Ente code keeps working. Without one, while you can still sign in, look in the same 2FA setting and set the authenticator up again from the new phone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
