Kinsta 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for MyKinsta

MyKinsta is the dashboard where you manage sites hosted with Kinsta, along with billing, company users and SSH keys. Two-factor authentication (2FA) isn't something you opt into there. If you sign in with a MyKinsta account, Kinsta says "two-factor authentication is required as part of the login process" (Kinsta). The only choice is where the code comes from: your email inbox, which is the default, or an authenticator app. This guide covers the switch to an app, using Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Kinsta steps come from Kinsta's own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Kinsta account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Email codes or an app

New MyKinsta accounts start with email codes, each valid once for 30 minutes (Kinsta). Anyone who gets into that mailbox can then get into your hosting account too, which is the main reason to move the code to your phone. See authenticator apps vs. SMS for the general trade-offs.

If your company signs you in through its own identity provider (SSO), such as Okta or Google Workspace, that provider handles verification and Kinsta's 2FA doesn't apply. Kinsta's page doesn't say how 2FA works when you sign in with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket (Kinsta).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Kinsta's documentation describes these steps (Kinsta):

1. Sign in to MyKinsta, click your username in the top right corner, then choose User settings.
2. On the My account page, find Authenticator app and click Enable.
3. MyKinsta shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If scanning doesn't work, use the key printed under the QR code. Kinsta calls it a 16-digit code. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type "Kinsta" 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?
5. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into Enter the 6-digit code you see in the app, then click Verify.

Kinsta suggests the built-in code feature of 1Password or LastPass if you already use one, but any authenticator app works.

Company owners and admins can see which method each person uses under Company settings > Users > 2FA (Kinsta).

No backup codes

Kinsta's documentation doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. The only documented way back in after losing the app is Kinsta Support (below). Unless you back up Novaz with iCloud backup or a backup file, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so keep access to your MyKinsta email address and know which payment card is on the account: Support uses both to check who you are.

Kinsta also requires a verified email address even when you use an app (Kinsta). If you lose access to that mailbox, contact Support before you also lose your phone.

When MyKinsta asks for a code

You get a prompt at every sign-in. You can pick Don't ask for a code on this device, which skips the prompt for 30 days. That only holds while you use the same browser and the same IP address. A VPN, travel or an internet provider that changes your IP often brings the prompt back, even within those 30 days (Kinsta).

If Kinsta rejects your code

Kinsta's troubleshooting is about email codes. It notes that a computer clock set ahead of the real time can make MyKinsta report a code as expired (Kinsta). For app codes, the phone's clock matters too. On your iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.

Repeated failed sign-ins lock the account. Kinsta then emails a Temporary Login to MyKinsta link that lets you sign in at once with your password and code; other routes stay locked until the lock expires (Kinsta). More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Kinsta doesn't describe moving the authenticator to a new phone, or turning the app off yourself. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the Kinsta codes keep working. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone. Keep the old iPhone until you know you can sign in another way; otherwise the Support route below is the documented fix.

If you lose your authenticator

Kinsta Support can remove the app protection from your account (Kinsta):

1. Email support@kinsta.com from the address on your MyKinsta account. Say you're locked out and need access back.
2. Support checks that the sender matches the address on file.
3. Support asks for the last 4 digits and the expiry date of the card on the account.
4. Once both check out, Support removes the authenticator app. You then sign in with email codes and can set up an app again.

Kinsta doesn't say how long this takes. On a team account, the company owner can also ask Kinsta to turn off 2FA for a user, but only if that user belongs to no other company (Kinsta). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Kinsta help

• Logging In
• User Management
• Security Roles and Responsibilities