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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

JumpCloud 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your work login

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

On this page
  1. Watch the deadline
  2. Set up the authenticator app
  3. No backup codes: the key is your backup
  4. When you'll need a code
  5. If JumpCloud rejects your code
  6. Changing phones
  7. If you lose your authenticator
  8. For JumpCloud admins
  9. Official JumpCloud help

Some companies run staff accounts through JumpCloud. You see it as the JumpCloud User Portal, where your work apps live, but the same code can be asked for when you log in to a company Mac or Windows PC, a Linux server over SSH, or the VPN (JumpCloud). Your IT admin decides whether you need it and which methods you get: codes, push approvals in JumpCloud's own Protect app, security keys, Touch ID or Windows Hello, Duo or text messages (JumpCloud).

For codes, JumpCloud accepts "Any application that can generate a six-digit SHA-1 based TOTP token" (JumpCloud). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way. Novaz can't approve push requests, though.

How we checked this guide: the JumpCloud steps come from JumpCloud's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a JumpCloud account, and your company's settings change what you see, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Watch the deadline

When an admin requires codes, JumpCloud emails you and starts an enrollment period: 7 days by default, or anything from 1 to 365 (JumpCloud). You can skip the prompt until then, and a reminder arrives a day before it ends. Miss it and you're locked out of the User Portal until an admin steps in (JumpCloud).

Set up the authenticator app

Sign in at console.jumpcloud.com/login (your company may use a regional address): company email, Continue, password, Login (JumpCloud).

If JumpCloud prompts you (JumpCloud):

  1. On Verify Your Identity, click Continue.
  2. JumpCloud suggests an app such as JumpCloud Protect. You have Novaz, so click I Have the App.
  3. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  4. Copy the alpha-numeric key under the QR code and store it safely (see below).
  5. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz and click Submit.

To set it up yourself, go to Security > Multi-Factor Authentication > Set Up Authenticator App, scan, click continue, enter the code, then Submit and Done (same page). A redesigned User Portal began rolling out on April 1, 2026, turning the Security tiles into tabs (JumpCloud), so buttons may not match the help pages exactly.

Scan, don't type

JumpCloud's login help says each code lasts 60 seconds and changes every 60 seconds (JumpCloud). A key typed into Novaz always gives 30-second codes, while a QR code carries the right timing. So scan, then tap the account in Novaz and check Interval under Details. See What is a 2FA setup key?

No backup codes: the key is your backup

JumpCloud's user help doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. Instead, the saved key lets you rebuild the account on a new phone (JumpCloud). Novaz keeps keys only on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, so keep that key too, in a password manager or on paper.

One catch: if Novaz showed a 60-second Interval, retyping the key into Novaz later gives 30-second codes JumpCloud won't accept. Then your fallback is your IT admin. Some companies also require a text-message number as a backup method (JumpCloud).

When you'll need a code

At User Portal login, after your password; when you open a work app after your portal session has ended (JumpCloud); and on a Mac or Windows PC after a restart or fresh login, though not to unlock the screen (JumpCloud).

If JumpCloud rejects your code

Tries are limited: your admin sets the number (JumpCloud), and if you run out, your admin has to unlock you (JumpCloud). So pause and check:

  • Did the code expire as you typed? Use the next one.
  • Did you type the key instead of scanning? The 30-second timing may be why.
  • Is the iPhone's clock right? Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns when it's 15 seconds or more off.

More in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Do this while you still have the old phone (JumpCloud):

  1. In the User Portal, go to Security > Multi-factor Authentication.
  2. Click Authenticator App, then Reset, and confirm with a code from the old phone.
  3. Scan the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone, enter the code and click Submit.

Don't stop halfway: JumpCloud warns that can lock you out of your apps. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore the JumpCloud entry on the new iPhone instead; without one, this reset is how you switch. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

With the saved key, add it by hand: in Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, with JumpCloud as the Service, your JumpCloud email as the Account and the key as the Setup key (JumpCloud). Mind the 60-second catch above.

Otherwise, ask your IT admin. An admin can reset your codes and give you a new enrollment period, and you set up again at your next login (JumpCloud). What proof your company wants, and how long it takes, is up to your company. See Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

JumpCloud's user pages describe no way to turn codes off yourself; that's your admin's call.

For JumpCloud admins

Every Admin Portal account now needs a second step. Locked out? The link at the bottom of Verify Your Identity emails you a Set Up MFA button to enroll again. An Administrator with Billing can also send you a reset email, valid for 24 hours. If you sign in with Google, Google's verification applies instead (JumpCloud).

Official JumpCloud help

More guides: Security, identity and VPN