Intercom 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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Your Intercom account is your teammate login to your company's Intercom workspace: the Inbox, the Fin AI agent, the Help Center and the settings. You can turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for your own login, and a workspace admin can require it for everyone. Either way, the second step is a 6-digit code from an authenticator app. Intercom's help page doesn't offer text-message codes (Intercom).
Intercom ties 2FA to email-and-password sign-in. If you created your account with Google sign-in, the option stays hidden until you set a password (see below). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Intercom steps come from Intercom's own Help Center articles and their screenshots, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Intercom account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Does your workspace require it?
Admins can enforce 2FA for the whole workspace, on any plan, under Settings > Workspace > Security > Authentication methods. If it's enforced before you've set it up, Intercom asks you to scan a QR code at your next login and won't let you in until you finish. Admins can require 2FA, but they can't change your personal 2FA settings (Intercom).
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
Intercom documents these steps (Intercom):
- Log in to Intercom, preferably on a computer.
- Go to Settings > Personal > Account security.
- In the Two Factor Authentication (2FA) section, switch on Enable 2FA. The article's text spells it Two-Factor Authentication, so the heading may differ slightly.
- Intercom shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at your screen. If Intercom is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into Intercom.
- Download the recovery codes Intercom gives you and store them safely.
Intercom's help mentions no text key to type instead, so plan to scan.
Signed up with Google? Your account may not have a password, and Intercom won't show the 2FA option without one. Use Forgot your password? on the login page to create a password, then return to Account security (Intercom).
Keep your recovery codes
With 2FA on, Account security shows a Download Recovery Codes link, so you can download them again later. Intercom warns that skipping this can leave you locked out (Intercom). It doesn't say how many codes you get or whether each works only once.
Novaz's keys stay on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file. If the phone is gone without one, your recovery codes are your own way back in, so keep them in a password manager or on paper. More in 2FA backup codes.
When Intercom asks for a code
Intercom asks for a code from your app when you log in with your email and password. Its help doesn't mention remembering trusted devices.
Separately, when Intercom flags a login as suspicious, it emails you a verification token to enter before the login completes (Intercom). That code comes from your inbox, not from Novaz.
If Intercom rejects your code
Intercom's advice: set your phone's date and time automatically, and restart the phone if codes still fail. Failing that, turn 2FA off and on again in Account security and scan the new QR code (Intercom).
On iPhone, that's Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes in Authenticator code not working?
Moving to a new iPhone
Intercom's method is to switch off Enable 2FA in Account security, switch it back on, scan the new QR code with the new phone, and confirm with a code from it (Intercom). Do it while the old phone still works. Intercom doesn't say whether your recovery codes change, so download them again afterwards.
If your workspace enforces 2FA, you can't switch it off yourself, so ask your admin. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
- Use a recovery code. On the 2FA login page, choose Enter a recovery code.
- Ask a teammate to send one. You can't request it for yourself. A teammate with the Can manage teammates, seats and permissions permission, in the same workspace, goes to Settings > Workspace > Teammates and clicks 2FA Recovery next to your name. Intercom emails a code to your registered address (Intercom). If that code fails too, the admin can reset your failed login attempts and send another (Intercom).
- Contact Intercom Support through the Messenger, but only if you're the workspace's only teammate or nobody else has that permission (Intercom). Otherwise Intercom support "cannot send a recovery code on a teammate's behalf" (Intercom). Neither article says what proof Support needs or how long it takes.
Keep access to your registered email, since recovery codes are sent there. Once you're back in, 2FA is still on: switch Enable 2FA off and on, scan the new QR code with Novaz, and download fresh recovery codes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Turning 2FA off
In Settings > Personal > Account security, switch off Enable 2FA. Depending on your setup or workspace rules, Intercom may ask for a recovery code. If your workspace enforces 2FA, only your admin can help (Intercom).
