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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

IONOS 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Which login this protects
  2. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  3. Treat the recovery code like a key to the account
  4. Signing in afterwards
  5. If IONOS rejects your code
  6. Moving to a new iPhone
  7. If you lose your phone
  8. Turning 2FA off
  9. Official IONOS help

The IONOS account is where you manage your IONOS contracts and the products tied to them: domains, web hosting, email addresses and servers (IONOS). Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional there. IONOS offers two kinds, and you can run them side by side: an authenticator app that makes time-based codes (TOTP), or a confirmation prompt in the IONOS Mobile App (IONOS, IONOS).

Plan for the recovery code: IONOS shows a single 16-digit code at the end of setup, and its help offers no other way past 2FA once your phone is gone. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. IONOS's own example uses FreeOTP, and any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the IONOS steps come from IONOS's own US help center, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on an IONOS account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Which login this protects

This guide covers the customer account at login.ionos.com. Webmail for IONOS mailboxes has its own, separate two-factor switch under Login & Security (IONOS).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

IONOS describes these steps (IONOS):

  1. Sign in to your IONOS account.
  2. In the title bar, click Menu > My account.
  3. Click Login & account security.
  4. Next to Two-factor authentication, click Configure two-factor authentication.
  5. In the Authenticator app tile, click Set up with authenticator app.
  6. A QR code appears. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and aim the camera at your computer screen. Doing this on the iPhone itself? Screenshot the code, tap +, then Choose a photo (how that works).
  7. Back on the Set up the authenticator app page, click Confirm QR code scan.
  8. Type the 6-digit code Novaz shows into Enter code and click Confirm.
  9. IONOS now shows your 16-digit recovery code. Save it before you close the page.

The article only covers the QR code and never mentions a text key to type, so plan on scanning. An older IONOS tips page names the menus My Account & Logout and Login & Account Security (IONOS), so labels may differ.

Treat the recovery code like a key to the account

The code works once. Entering it switches 2FA off, and you then set it up again (IONOS). IONOS asks you to guard it like your other login details and keep it to yourself (IONOS). Its help doesn't describe a way to display the code again or replace it later.

This code is your safety net if you lose the phone without an up-to-date Novaz backup: store it in a password manager or on paper, away from the phone. If you also add the IONOS Mobile App as a method, that setup ends with a recovery code of its own (IONOS). More on storing codes: 2FA backup codes.

Signing in afterwards

After your password, IONOS asks for the current code from your app (IONOS). Without 2FA, IONOS sometimes emails a 6-digit code to your contact address at sign-in instead (IONOS). The help doesn't say whether IONOS can remember a trusted browser.

If IONOS rejects your code

The 2FA articles don't cover wrong-code errors. Start with the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz flags a clock that's off by 15 seconds or more. For other causes, see Authenticator code not working?

Moving to a new iPhone

IONOS wants both phones within reach for this (IONOS):

  1. Sign in using a code from the old phone.
  2. Go to Menu > My account > Login & account security.
  3. Next to Two-factor authentication, click Manage two-factor authentication, then Deactivate, and confirm the security notice.
  4. Set up the authenticator app again with the new phone, using the steps above.

IONOS adds that apps with an export feature can skip deactivating. Novaz can do this: with iCloud backup on, or a file from Settings › Backup › Export to file…, restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the IONOS entry keeps working. Without a backup, use the route above. Background: moving your authenticator to a new iPhone.

If you lose your phone

With the device gone, IONOS says only the recovery code can switch 2FA off (IONOS).

  1. Open the 2-Step Verification form (IONOS).
  2. Enter your IONOS customer ID and the recovery code, then click Next. This removes 2FA (IONOS).
  3. Sign in and set up the authenticator app again on your new phone.

Can't sign in to look up your customer ID? IONOS prints it at the bottom of your order or contract confirmation email, in the top right corner of your monthly invoice, and in the text of IONOS direct debits on your bank statement (IONOS).

Without the recovery code, IONOS's 2FA articles offer nothing else: no identity check, no waiting period, no timeline. For sign-in trouble in general, IONOS points to its Customer Support (IONOS), but the help doesn't say support can remove 2FA. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Use steps 1 to 3 from the new-phone section. IONOS says the entry in your app stops working for sign-in once you deactivate (IONOS), so you can then open it in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official IONOS help

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