hide.me VPN 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your hide.me VPN account is the username and password behind your subscription. Two-factor authentication (2FA) for it is set up on the web, in the Member Area at member.hide.me. 2FA is optional. hide.me offers one kind of second factor: a 6-digit code from an authenticator app, which you type after your password (hide.me). The one thing to plan for is the recovery codes: hide.me shows them a single time, during setup. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the hide.me steps come from hide.me's own blog announcement and knowledge base article, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a hide.me account, so a label may differ slightly. The setup steps come from a post dated March 15, 2022, so the screens may have changed since then. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

hide.me describes the setting this way (hide.me):

1. Sign in to the Member Area with your Username and Password, then select Log me in.
2. In the menu on the left, open the Account Settings page.
3. Find the section called Two-factor authentication and select its button. A setup wizard starts.
4. The wizard shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If you're setting this up on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. hide.me also lets you add the account by typing a code instead of scanning. Its post doesn't give that option's label. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type a name such as hide.me under Service, and paste the code as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Finish the wizard. hide.me's post doesn't list its remaining steps, but your recovery codes come during setup (next section).

hide.me says its codes are 6 digits but doesn't say how often they change. If you can, scan the QR code, since it carries the code settings to your app.

Save the recovery codes right away

During setup, hide.me gives you a set of recovery codes. They get you back in if your authenticator is deleted, reset, or on a lost phone. Its help puts it bluntly: "Recovery codes are shown only once during the 2FA setup process" (hide.me). So copy them before you close the wizard, and keep them somewhere other than your iPhone, such as a password manager or a sheet of paper.

hide.me also suggests backing up your authenticator app where the app supports it. Novaz does: turn on iCloud backup (PRO) or use Export to file… under Settings › Backup. Keep the recovery codes anyway, since they still get you in if the phone is gone and your Novaz backup is missing or older than this account. More in 2FA backup codes.

To get a fresh set later, hide.me's advice is to turn 2FA off and then on again (hide.me). Its help doesn't describe the steps for turning it off.

When hide.me asks for a code

According to the announcement, you type the 6-digit code from your app along with your regular password each time you sign in to your hide.me account (hide.me). hide.me's pages don't say whether the VPN apps or the browser extensions ask for the code too, or whether you can mark a device as trusted.

If hide.me rejects your code

hide.me's help doesn't cover rejected codes. The most common cause is the iPhone's clock. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Moving to a new iPhone

hide.me doesn't document a way to move the authenticator to another phone. Its help mentions switching phones only as one of the situations recovery codes are for (hide.me). With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone and keep the same codes. Without one, switch while the old phone still works: sign in, turn 2FA off, then set it up again by scanning the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone. You'll get new recovery codes when you do. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

With a recovery code, the process is short (hide.me):

1. Go to the Member Area sign-in page and enter your username and password.
2. When hide.me asks for the 2FA code, enter one of your recovery codes instead.
3. Once you're in, set up 2FA again so you have a working authenticator and a new set of codes.

Without the authenticator and without recovery codes, you have to contact hide.me's Customer Support. hide.me only turns off 2FA after you prove that you own the account or subscription. It may ask you to confirm things like:

• the email address you registered with,
• details of your subscription,
• payment information, or
• other information tied to the account.

Reach Support through the hide.me help center, at support@hide.me, or by live chat. More details up front speed up the check, but hide.me doesn't say how long it takes. Once your identity is confirmed, Support disables 2FA so you can sign in and set it up again (hide.me). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official hide.me help

• hide.me VPN now supports 2FA!
• How to Restore 2FA Credentials
• Log in (Member Area)