Jamf Now 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Jamf Now is Jamf's device management service for small businesses. Since March 24, 2026, you sign in to it with a Jamf ID, the one login Jamf uses across its products (Jamf). So two-factor authentication (2FA) has moved. Jamf Now's own two-step page now says only: "Multi-factor authentication is managed in Jamf Account" (Jamf).

If you used two-step verification in Jamf Now before the move, it didn't carry over: you have to set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) again on your Jamf ID (Jamf). MFA is optional (Jamf). Jamf ID supports time-based codes (TOTP) from an authenticator app, and passkeys as another second factor (Jamf Nation, staff post, Jamf). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Jamf steps come from Jamf's own support articles, documentation, blog and a Jamf staff post on the Jamf Nation community, linked below, which we read on October 22, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Jamf account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Before you start

• Sign in to Jamf Now once with your Jamf ID. Go to login.jamfnow.com, click Log in with Jamf ID and use the email you always used for Jamf Now. If you had no Jamf ID before, your old Jamf Now password works the first time (Jamf).
• Check for SSO. If your organization signs in to Jamf through single sign-on, MFA has to be set up with your organization's identity provider, not on your Jamf ID (Jamf). In that case, ask your IT team.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Jamf's documentation puts the setting under Profile > Security in Jamf Account (Jamf). A Jamf product manager's post on Jamf Nation gives the button name (Jamf Nation, staff post):

1. Sign in to Jamf Account at account.jamf.com with your Jamf ID.
2. Open Profile, then the Security tab.
3. Click Enable MFA. Jamf then takes you through enrollment and verification.
4. When Jamf shows a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If Jamf offers a text key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Type the current code from Novaz to finish verification.
7. Save the recovery code Jamf gives you. More on that below.

Jamf's pages don't show the enrollment screens, so they don't name the text key or say how many digits the codes have. Scanning the QR code is safest, because it carries the code settings into the app.

Save the recovery code

Jamf Account gives you a recovery code when you turn on MFA. Jamf can't reset MFA for you if you lose both your device and your recovery codes (Jamf, Jamf). Jamf doesn't say how many you get or whether you can make new ones.

If the phone is lost and you have no Novaz backup, or the backup predates Jamf Now, this code is your way back in. Keep it in a password manager or on paper. See 2FA backup codes.

When Jamf asks for a code

Jamf asks for the code on a Verify your Identity screen after your email and password (Jamf). Jamf's blog says a passkey can be your second factor instead of the authenticator code (Jamf).

If Jamf rejects your code

Check the iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If it's still refused, Jamf says to sign in with your recovery code, as below (Jamf).

If you lose your authenticator

To sign in with the recovery code (Jamf):

1. On the Jamf Account login page, enter your email, then your password.
2. On Verify your Identity, click Try another method.
3. Choose Recovery code, enter it and click Continue.

Without the recovery code, Jamf's two pages give different routes. The support article says to email support@jamf.com from the address on your Jamf ID (Jamf). The documentation says to create a temporary Jamf ID with a different email address, sign in to Jamf Account with it and click Contact Support in the top navigation (Jamf). Neither says what proof Jamf wants or how long it takes, and the documentation warns that Jamf can't reset MFA. Don't count on this route.

See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones or turning it off

Jamf's pages don't describe moving MFA to a new phone or turning it off. In Novaz, an iCloud backup or backup file moves your accounts to the new iPhone. Either way, keep the old phone and your recovery code until you've signed in with codes from the new one. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Official Jamf help

• Jamf Now Login Experience Updated
• Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication - Jamf Now Documentation
• Security - Jamf Account Documentation
• Jamf ID MFA not working
• How to Set up a Passkey for Your Jamf ID
• Jamf ID update complete (Jamf Nation, staff post)