LinkedIn 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your LinkedIn account holds your profile and messages, and it's also how you sign in to Recruiter, Campaign Manager and Sales Navigator. For two-factor authentication (2FA), LinkedIn offers text messages or an authenticator app, and it prefers the app (LinkedIn). The weak spot is recovery: LinkedIn's help describes no backup codes, so if you lose the app and no device is still signed in, you have to prove who you are, usually with a government ID. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

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

Who has to turn it on

For a regular LinkedIn account, 2FA is optional. Recruiter, Campaign Manager and Sales Navigator users must turn it on in their LinkedIn.com account, and lose access to those tools if they turn it off (LinkedIn).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

LinkedIn's newest help page gives these steps for a computer (LinkedIn):

1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and choose Settings & Privacy.
2. Click Sign in & security on the left, then Two-factor authentication.
3. Click Set up, choose Authenticator App as the method, and click Continue.
4. LinkedIn may ask for your password, for a code sent to your email address, or for you to approve the change in the LinkedIn app.
5. LinkedIn gives you a key, which its help calls the secret key. Add it to Novaz (steps below).
6. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into LinkedIn to confirm.

In the LinkedIn app, tap your profile picture, then Settings & Privacy, Sign in & security and Two-factor authentication. An older LinkedIn page words some screens differently, such as Sign-in & security (LinkedIn), so labels may differ.

In Novaz: LinkedIn's help only mentions typing the key. Tap +, then Enter key manually, type LinkedIn as the Service, add your email under Account if you want, and put the key in Setup key. If LinkedIn also shows a QR code, tap +, then Scan QR code instead. See What is a 2FA setup key?

No backup codes: plan for a lost phone now

None of LinkedIn's 2FA pages mention backup or recovery codes. The easy way back after losing your authenticator is a device that's still signed in, because you can turn 2FA off from its settings (LinkedIn). So stay signed in to LinkedIn on a second device, such as a computer or tablet, and keep your account's email address and phone number current.

When LinkedIn asks for a code

LinkedIn asks for a code after your password when it doesn't recognize the device. If the LinkedIn app on your phone is signed in with notifications on, you may get a sign-in prompt there instead (LinkedIn), which you answer with Yes, it's me or No, it's not me (LinkedIn). Each sign-in from a new device or browser, or after clearing cookies, also triggers a security email (LinkedIn).

If LinkedIn rejects your code

LinkedIn treats a rejected code, or an 8-digit code where it expects 6, as a setup problem and says to repeat the setup. From a device that's still signed in, you can turn 2FA off and set it up again (LinkedIn).

Before you redo it, check your iPhone's clock: 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?

Moving to a new iPhone

In LinkedIn's words, "The authenticator app connection is unique to each mobile device and each app install" (LinkedIn). So a new or reset phone, or a reinstalled app, needs a fresh setup. While the old phone still works, turn 2FA off in LinkedIn, turn it back on, and add the new key to Novaz on the new iPhone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restoring it on the new iPhone brings the same key over, so the codes should keep working without a fresh setup. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

If LinkedIn is still open on any device, go to Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security > Two-factor authentication there and turn it off (LinkedIn).

Otherwise, sign in with your email or phone number and password, and on the code screen choose verify your identity at the bottom. LinkedIn's ID partner, Persona, then takes over (LinkedIn):

• You need a smartphone to photograph a valid ID card, driver's license or passport. On a computer, you scan a QR code to continue on the phone.
• Persona may ask for a selfie too. School and library cards don't count.
• In Canada, the EU and the UK, a notarized Affidavit of Identity attached to a support case is an alternative.

LinkedIn doesn't say how long recovery takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Go to Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security > Two-factor authentication and click Turn off, or tap the toggle in the app (LinkedIn). Then remove the LinkedIn entry in Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official LinkedIn help

• Turn two-factor authentication on and off
• Two-factor authentication overview
• Authenticator app overview
• No access to mobile device for two-factor authentication
• Verify your identity to recover account access
• Sign-in security prompt for two-factor authentication
• Notification emails for two-factor authentication