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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

F-Secure 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for My F-Secure

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

On this page
  1. Turn on 2-step verification with an authenticator app
  2. Save the recovery codes before you close the window
  3. When F-Secure asks for a code
  4. If F-Secure rejects your code
  5. Changing phones
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. Official F-Secure help

My F-Secure is the online account that holds your F-Secure subscription. F-Secure calls its two-factor authentication 2-Step Verification. It's optional, and the only way to get the codes is an authenticator app on your phone. F-Secure's pages name Google Authenticator, Duo Mobile and Microsoft Authenticator as examples (F-Secure, archived). F-Secure's articles mention no codes by text message or email.

Know this before you start: if you lose both the app and your recovery codes, F-Secure can't get you back into that account. Its fix is a new one. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the F-Secure steps come from F-Secure's own knowledge base articles, linked below. F-Secure's current knowledge base only loads in a full web browser, so our automated reader couldn't open it. On October 21, 2026, we read archived copies of the same articles that web.archive.org saved between September 2024 and January 2025 (the setup article itself was last edited in 2021), plus answers from F-Secure staff on its community forum. We haven't tested the steps on an F-Secure account, so labels may have changed since. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2-step verification with an authenticator app

F-Secure's setup article gives these steps (F-Secure, archived):

  1. Log in to My F-Secure with your username and password.
  2. Select your name, then Account settings, then F-Secure account settings.
  3. Next to the 2-Step Verification status, select Change.
  4. In the window Turn on 2-Step Verification, select Set up.
  5. F-Secure shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If you're on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  6. If you can't scan it, select Show code. F-Secure shows a key it calls a security code. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
  7. Type the code from Novaz into the empty field and select Turn on.

F-Secure doesn't say how many digits its codes have or how often they change. Scanning is the safer choice, because the QR code carries those settings to the app. A key typed by hand gets 6 digits every 30 seconds.

Save the recovery codes before you close the window

The last step of setup is making your recovery codes (F-Secure, archived). You get three options:

  • View current recovery codes shows them in your browser.
  • Download recovery codes as as a text file saves a .txt file to your Downloads folder. Move it somewhere safe.
  • Generate new recovery codes, then Generate, makes a fresh set. The old set stops working at once.

Each code works once. F-Secure also says you must use them "in the order that they are listed," which is unusual, so keep the list in its original order (F-Secure, archived).

Store these recovery codes away from your phone, on paper or in a password manager. They get you in if the phone is lost and you have no Novaz backup (iCloud backup or Export to file…), or one that's out of date. See 2FA backup codes.

When F-Secure asks for a code

Once it's on, My F-Secure asks for a code from the app every time you log in (F-Secure, archived). F-Secure doesn't document a way to trust a device and skip the code.

If you're asked for a code you didn't expect, F-Secure says 2-step verification was probably set up earlier. The code comes from your authenticator app, not by email (F-Secure, archived).

If F-Secure rejects your code

F-Secure's pages don't cover rejected codes. The usual cause is the phone's clock. On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

F-Secure doesn't describe moving 2-step verification to a new phone, and its archived articles don't say how to turn it off or set it up again. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the F-Secure codes keep working. Either way, before you switch, check that your recovery codes are at hand, and don't wipe the old phone until you can log in without it. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Log in with one of your recovery codes. That's F-Secure's documented answer for a lost or broken phone. Without the codes, F-Secure says you can't access the account (F-Secure, archived). It also can't send you new recovery codes, because each customer's codes are their own.

If your subscription is still valid, contact F-Secure customer support. Support creates a new account with the same license period. You then reinstall F-Secure on every device from the new account (F-Secure, archived). An F-Secure employee on the forum explains that F-Secure can't recover codes from your authenticator app, so moving the subscription to a new account is the only workaround (F-Secure Community, staff answer). F-Secure doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long this takes.

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official F-Secure help

The articles below are archived copies; their old addresses now open F-Secure's new knowledge base.

More guides: Security, identity and VPN