FreeTaxUSA 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your FreeTaxUSA account holds the federal and state returns you file there, with Social Security numbers, income and refund bank details inside. FreeTaxUSA calls its two-factor system 2-Step Verification. Email verification is already on for every account, and phone verification joins it once you add a phone number. On top of those you can add an authenticator app or a list of emergency codes (FreeTaxUSA). Its security page today lists a time-based one-time password (TOTP) from an authenticator app as one of the options, next to codes by text, voice call or email (FreeTaxUSA).

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the FreeTaxUSA steps come from FreeTaxUSA's own pages, linked below. Its site turned away our automated reader, so on October 21, 2026 we read them as archived copies on web.archive.org. The security and support pages were saved in October 2026. The setup steps come from FreeTaxUSA's help answers, and the only readable copy of those is from September 2021. The site has been redesigned since, so labels may differ. We haven't tested them on a FreeTaxUSA account. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

FreeTaxUSA's help describes these steps (FreeTaxUSA):

1. Sign in to your FreeTaxUSA account and open the Account Menu.
2. Choose to edit 2-Step Verification.
3. Enter your password.
4. Choose the method to add. FreeTaxUSA's help calls this one Authenticator App Verification.
5. FreeTaxUSA 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, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
6. The help doesn't describe the rest of the screen. If FreeTaxUSA asks for a code to confirm, type the 6-digit code from Novaz.

The help says the QR code carries a "secret key," but it doesn't say whether the page also shows that key as text you can type. If it does, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Save emergency codes too

Emergency codes are FreeTaxUSA's backup codes, and you turn them on from the same 2-Step Verification screen. FreeTaxUSA gives you a list of random codes to print and store somewhere safe (FreeTaxUSA):

• Each code works once, so cross off the ones you use.
• You can make a new list from your account when you run low. The unused codes on the old list stop working.
• FreeTaxUSA recommends emergency codes only as a backup to another method, such as the authenticator app.

With Novaz, set these up: unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, Novaz keeps its keys only on your iPhone, so the printed list is your way in if that phone is gone. See 2FA backup codes.

When FreeTaxUSA asks for a code

FreeTaxUSA asks for the authenticator code each time you sign in from a device it doesn't recognize. For email and phone codes, its help says you can ask FreeTaxUSA to remember your device so you aren't asked every time (FreeTaxUSA). Its current help also has answers titled "What does Remember this device do?" and "What does Remove All Trusted Devices mean?", but we couldn't read either in any copy.

If FreeTaxUSA rejects your code

FreeTaxUSA's help says to use the newest 6-digit code, because each one expires quickly. If fresh codes still fail, check your iPhone's clock: 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?

If you lose your authenticator

Sign in with one of your emergency codes. FreeTaxUSA says you can enter one in place of the other verification code (FreeTaxUSA). Then go back to 2-Step Verification and set the authenticator up again on your current phone.

Without emergency codes, the pages we could read don't describe a way to reset the authenticator. FreeTaxUSA's account recovery tool is for a forgotten username or password. It checks your identity with your email address or phone number plus your Social Security number, then sends a verification code (FreeTaxUSA, FreeTaxUSA). Nothing says it removes an authenticator app, so contact FreeTaxUSA support. The pages don't say what proof support asks for or how long a reset takes.

See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones or turning it off

FreeTaxUSA's help doesn't describe moving the authenticator to a new phone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the codes keep working. Without one, do this while the old phone still works: sign in, open 2-Step Verification, and set up the authenticator app again with the new iPhone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you turn the authenticator off, FreeTaxUSA falls back to email or phone verification on devices it doesn't recognize (FreeTaxUSA). After that, open the FreeTaxUSA entry in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official FreeTaxUSA help

• FreeTaxUSA FAQ Search, results for "authentication" (archived copy, September 2021)
• Secure Tax Filing: Encryption, Alerts & 2FA (archived copy, October 10, 2026)
• FreeTaxUSA Customer Support (archived copy, October 6, 2026)
• Sign In and Recover FreeTaxUSA Account (archived copy, April 14, 2026)