FlightAware 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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If you've looked for a two-factor setting in your FlightAware account and found nothing, that's expected. FlightAware doesn't document a switch in account settings. It offers the authenticator app as an optional step while you sign in (FlightAware). This guide shows where that step is and what changes once it's on. We use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone in the steps, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the FlightAware steps come from FlightAware's own help center, including its screenshots, which we read on October 12, 2026. We haven't tested them on a FlightAware account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
How FlightAware sign-in works now
FlightAware stopped using passwords on October 22, 2024. You sign in at login.flightaware.com with Google, with Apple, or with your email address. With email, FlightAware sends a 6-digit code to that address, and the code takes the place of a password (FlightAware).
An authenticator app is an optional extra on top of the email code. FlightAware calls it multi-factor authentication (MFA or 2FA).
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
FlightAware's help describes this flow (FlightAware, FlightAware):
- Sign in at login.flightaware.com with your email address, on a computer if you can.
- Enter the 6-digit code FlightAware emails you.
- On the screen Set up an Authenticator app, choose Set up Authenticator. (Skip & Continue signs you in without it.)
- FlightAware 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. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- If you can't scan it, choose Can't scan this barcode?. FlightAware shows a key instead. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Choose Continue, then type the 6-digit code from Novaz on the next page.
FlightAware's help doesn't say how often its codes change. Scanning the QR code is the safer choice, because it tells your app the code settings. A key typed by hand gets the usual 30 seconds.
If you signed in with Google or Apple, FlightAware says those methods use Google's or Apple's own verification and don't send an email code. Its help only describes the authenticator step for email sign-in.
If you started the setup by mistake, FlightAware's help says to choose Back, then the option to skip on the previous page.
Signing in afterwards
The setup screen says it plainly: once an authenticator app is set up, you need the code sent to your email and a code from the app every time you sign in. That's two different 6-digit codes on two similar screens, so check which one the page is asking for.
No backup codes
FlightAware's help doesn't mention backup or recovery codes, and doesn't describe a way to move the authenticator to a new phone yourself. Its one documented fix for a lost or changed authenticator is FlightAware Support (below). Before you set it up, make sure you can still get into the email address on your FlightAware account: you'll need it to sign in and to prove the account is yours.
If FlightAware rejects your code
Check your iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when your clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Lost your phone, changing phones, or turning it off
All three go through FlightAware Support. Its help says to contact Support with the primary email address on your account to reset the authenticator setup, and that this is also what to do if you lose access to your authenticator app (FlightAware). The address is support@flightaware.com.
If you're moving to a new iPhone and have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new phone and FlightAware's codes keep working, with no reset needed. Without one, keep the old phone until Support has reset the setup, then add FlightAware to the new phone the next time you're offered the step at sign-in. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
