ImprovMX 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

ImprovMX forwards email sent to addresses on your own domain to an inbox you already have, and sends mail from those addresses over SMTP. Whoever gets into your ImprovMX dashboard can change where your domain's mail goes, so the account is worth protecting. ImprovMX added two-factor authentication (2FA) in August 2020 (ImprovMX). It's optional, and it works with any app that makes time-based codes (TOTP). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the ImprovMX steps come from ImprovMX's own guides, linked below, including the screenshot and short screen recording in its 2FA guide, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on an ImprovMX account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

What 2FA changes at ImprovMX

By default, ImprovMX signs you in with a magic link sent to your email, and a password is something you can add later (ImprovMX). Two-factor authentication sits on top of whichever way you use. Once it's on, ImprovMX asks for a code from your app at every sign-in, and its guide says that includes signing in through the magic link.

That matters if your main worry is someone getting into your email inbox. Without 2FA, access to that inbox is enough to open your ImprovMX account. With 2FA, they would also need your phone.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

ImprovMX's guide gives these steps (ImprovMX):

1. Sign in to your account at app.improvmx.com.
2. In the menu on the left, click Account Info, then the Security tab.
3. Under Two-factor authentication (2FA), which shows Not enabled, click Enable 2FA.
4. Follow the instructions on screen. The first step asks you to have an authenticator app installed. The screen says ImprovMX will "support anything that uses Time-based One Time Passwords" (ImprovMX).

The text on that panel says you'll need your email address, your password and an authenticator app to sign in. ImprovMX's guide doesn't say whether you have to set a password before you can turn on 2FA. If the setup asks for one, set it first under Account Info > Security, in the Password section, and click Save changes.

ImprovMX's guide stops after the first setup screen, so it doesn't show whether you get a QR code, a text key, or both. Add ImprovMX to Novaz with whichever you're given:

• QR code: in Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the code. 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.
• Text key: tap +, then Enter key manually. Type ImprovMX as the Service, your email as the Account if you like, and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Then type the 6-digit code Novaz shows into ImprovMX to finish, if it asks. The next time you sign in, ImprovMX will want a code.

Backup codes

ImprovMX's guide doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. If the setup screens offer any, save them somewhere away from your phone, such as a password manager or on paper. Without a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), those codes would be your only way in without that phone.

If no codes appear, your fallback is ImprovMX support (below), which is slower. Keep access to the email address on your ImprovMX account, because that's where support expects to hear from you.

If ImprovMX rejects your code

ImprovMX's guides don't cover rejected codes. The usual cause is the 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 think someone else has been trying to sign in, ImprovMX keeps Access Logs for 12 months, and they include login attempts with the IP address behind each one (ImprovMX).

Changing phones or losing your authenticator

ImprovMX doesn't document a way to switch 2FA off yourself or to move it to a new device. Its guide says that to remove 2FA, or your password, completely, you contact the support team from your account email address (ImprovMX). The address ImprovMX gives on its other account guides is support@improvmx.com (ImprovMX).

So:

• New iPhone: restore your Novaz accounts from iCloud backup or a backup file, and ImprovMX's codes keep working. Without a backup, ask support to remove 2FA while you still have the old phone and can sign in, then turn it on again and add ImprovMX to Novaz on the new one. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
• Lost phone: write to support from the email address on your ImprovMX account and ask them to remove 2FA. ImprovMX doesn't say what other proof it asks for or how long this takes. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

The same support request is how you turn 2FA off: email ImprovMX support from your account address (ImprovMX). Once support confirms it's gone, open ImprovMX in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official ImprovMX help

• Enabling/Disabling Password & 2FA
• Account Access Logs
• How do I Delete my ImprovMX Account?
• New Features