Fandom 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your Fandom account is the one you edit and post with on Fandom's wikis, and its settings follow you to every community (Fandom). Two-factor authentication (2FA) for it is optional, though Fandom's staff recommend it (Fandom). Fandom's help describes a single method, an authenticator app, plus recovery codes as a fallback; there's no text-message option in its pages (Fandom). The catch: Fandom doesn't hand you recovery codes during setup, and they do nothing until you press a confirm button. This guide covers both parts with Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone; any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Fandom steps come from Fandom's own help pages on Community Central, its support center and two staff blog posts, all linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. Community Central help pages are wikis that any user can edit, so we checked the history of the 2FA page: its current text and screenshots were written by Fandom staff in May 2025. We haven't tested the steps on a Fandom 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 labels below come from the screenshots on Fandom's help page (Fandom, Fandom). Fandom shows its buttons in capital letters.

1. Sign in, select your avatar at the top right, and open My Preferences.
2. On the User profile tab, in the Basic information section, find 2-factor authentication: and select Manage. This opens Account Settings on auth.fandom.com, the page Fandom's support center also links to (Fandom).
3. Scroll to the Two-Factor Authentication section. Under Step 1 there's a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. On the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. No camera handy? Below the QR code, Fandom prints a text key next to Enter this secret key into your authenticator app. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually: Fandom as the Service, your username as the Account, and the key as the Setup key. Fandom's codes are six digits and change every 30 seconds, so a typed key works (Fandom). See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Under Step 2, type the current code from Novaz in Two-Factor code and select Verify code.

Then switch on your recovery codes

Back on Account Settings, the Manage Recovery Codes part of the section has a Show recovery codes button. Select it, copy the list somewhere safe (Fandom's screenshot shows twelve codes), and then select Confirm generated codes. The page warns that the codes won't work until you press it (Fandom).

Skip that button and there's no fallback: the sign-in screen only offers the authenticator code. Unless you've backed up Novaz with iCloud backup or Export to file…, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are what gets you in if that phone is gone. Keep them in a password manager or on paper. See 2FA backup codes.

To replace the set, select Show recovery codes again, then Generate new recovery codes, and agree with Generate new codes. Every old code stops working. Disable recovery codes turns them off; oddly, its confirmation button reads Yes, reset.

Signing in afterwards

After your password, or after signing in with Google, Facebook, Twitch or Apple, Fandom shows a second page. Type the code from Novaz in Two-factor Code and select Confirm two-factor code. With recovery codes confirmed, a Recovery Code box with Confirm recovery code sits below it (Fandom).

How often isn't clear. The top of Fandom's 2FA page and the 2023 launch post say on a new device; the page's sign-in section and the 2022 announcement say every sign-in (Fandom, Fandom). Expect it every time.

If Fandom rejects your code

Fandom's help doesn't cover rejected codes. The usual culprit is the iPhone's clock: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz flags a clock that's 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Moving to a new iPhone

Fandom doesn't describe a phone switch. The steps it does document are enough, as long as you still have the old phone: on Account Settings, select Turn off, confirm, and set 2FA up again with Novaz on the new iPhone. Then confirm a fresh set of recovery codes. If you restore a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file on the new iPhone instead, your Fandom codes keep working and you can skip this; see How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Sign in with a recovery code, if you confirmed them, then turn 2FA off and set it up again on your new phone. Without one, Fandom's help has no 2FA-specific reset. Its sign-in help says the Community Team can help restore access, and asks you to write from the email address on your account so Fandom can check the account is yours (Fandom). The support article for account access problems links to the contact form (Fandom). Fandom doesn't say what else it asks for or how long it takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

In the Two-Factor Authentication section of Account Settings, select Turn off, then Yes, disable (Fandom). Remove the Fandom entry from Novaz afterwards: open it and tap Remove account.

Official Fandom help

• Help:2FA
• Help:Preferences
• Help:Logging in
• I want to add/remove Facebook, Google, Twitch, Apple, or 2FA login on my account
• I can't access my account
• Arrived: Two-Factor Authentication for Fandom Accounts (staff blog, February 2023)
• Coming Soon: Two-Factor Authentication for Fandom Accounts (staff blog, November 2022)