LIHKG 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

LIHKG (LIHKG 討論區, the LIHKG forum) is a Hong Kong discussion forum. Your member account signs in with an email address and a password, and it's what lets you bookmark threads, follow and block members, and, once your identity is verified, post (LIHKG). Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional, but it's the first item LIHKG recommends on its account security page (LIHKG). The method is a code from an authenticator app on your phone. LIHKG names Google Authenticator as an example, and any app that makes time-based codes should work.

LIHKG's help center is in Traditional Chinese only and is short, so this guide gives each label as LIHKG writes it, with a translation, and says plainly where the help stops. We use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone in the steps. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the LIHKG steps come from LIHKG's own help center at help.lihkg.com, including the diagram on its 2FA page, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a LIHKG account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

What changes when 2FA is on

LIHKG calls the feature 雙重驗證登入 (two-step verification sign-in) and the app a 驗證應用程式 (authenticator app). Its 2FA page compares the code to the security token a bank gives you for online banking: after your email address and password, you type a code that only your phone can produce (LIHKG).

That code also replaces a check you may already know. Accounts without 2FA get a one-time code by email each time they sign in on a new device (LIHKG). LIHKG describes that email code as the protection for accounts that haven't set up 2FA, so with 2FA on, expect the authenticator code instead.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

LIHKG gives one path for the setting, the same on its 2FA page and its account security page (LIHKG, LIHKG):

1. Sign in to LIHKG and open 帳號 (Account).
2. Go to 帳號安全及登入 (Account security and sign-in).
3. Choose 驗證應用程式 (Authenticator app).
4. Add the code to Novaz. If LIHKG shows a QR code on another screen, tap + in Novaz, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If it's on the same iPhone, for example in the LIHKG app, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If LIHKG shows a key to type instead, tap +, then Enter key manually, enter LIHKG as the Service, and paste the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Finish by entering the current code from Novaz if LIHKG asks for one.

The help center stops at step 3. It doesn't show the setup screen, so it doesn't say whether you get a QR code, a text key or both, or whether you confirm with a code. Steps 4 to 6 cover the usual cases. Scanning a QR code is the safer choice when you have it, because it carries the code settings with it.

No documented backup codes or recovery

This is the part to think about before you turn it on. LIHKG's help pages don't mention backup or recovery codes. They also don't describe what to do if you lose the phone with your authenticator, how to move it to a new phone, or how to turn 2FA off.

If LIHKG shows backup codes during setup, save them somewhere other than your phone. With Novaz they're your way back in if the phone is lost and you haven't made a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file). See 2FA backup codes.

If LIHKG rejects your code

LIHKG's help doesn't cover rejected codes. The usual cause is the iPhone's clock: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when your clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

LIHKG doesn't document a way to move 2FA to a new phone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new iPhone and LIHKG comes with it. Otherwise, while you still have the old phone and can sign in, look in 帳號安全及登入 for a way to change or reset the authenticator app before you wipe it. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Use a backup code if LIHKG gave you one. Beyond that, the help center offers no recovery route, no proof it asks for, and no time frame. Its official contact points are the websites lihkg.com and lih.kg and the social media accounts listed on its official links page (LIHKG). That page also warns that it has no other or backup sites, which matters if someone contacts you offering to "restore" your account. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Other protections on the same page

LIHKG's account security page lists a few settings that work alongside 2FA (LIHKG):

• 已登入裝置 (Signed-in devices), under 帳號安全及登入, lists every device signed in to your account and can sign them out.
• 排定登出時間 (Scheduled sign-out), in the same place, signs your account out of all devices at a time you choose.
• Security notifications warn you about sign-ins on new devices and repeated failed sign-ins. Turn them on under 通知 (Notifications) > 接收推送通知 (Receive push notifications) > 接收會員通知 (Receive member notifications) > 開啟 (On).

LIHKG also warns against reusing a password from another site. It says people have tried to take over member accounts with email addresses and passwords leaked elsewhere.

Official LIHKG help

• 如何提高帳號安全性 (How to make your account more secure)
• 雙重驗證登入 (2FA) 介紹 (About two-step verification sign-in)
• 登入新裝置電郵認證 (Email verification for new devices)
• 如何註冊成為會員？ (How to register as a member)
• LIHKG 官方社交媒體及網站 (LIHKG's official social media and websites)