Lone Star College MFA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Your Lone Star College (LSC) account is the email address and password you use for LSC email, Teams, OneDrive and other college services. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is mandatory for every user, so you can't turn it off (Lone Star College). You can verify with Microsoft Authenticator, a different authenticator app, or a code by phone call. The setup screen opens on Microsoft's app, but you don't have to use it. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Lone Star College steps come from LSC's own IT help pages and a 2023 guide from its Office of Technology Services, linked below, which we read on October 19, 2026. LSC's step-by-step articles need an LSC sign-in, so we couldn't read them. We haven't tested the steps on an LSC account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on MFA with an authenticator app
Use a computer if you can, so the QR code isn't on your iPhone's screen. You'll see Microsoft's sign-in pages with LSC's logo (Lone Star College).
- Go to LoneStar.edu/MFA-Setup and sign in with your LSC email address and password (Lone Star College).
- The Keep your account secure page starts with Microsoft Authenticator. Click I want to set up a different method in the bottom left corner.
- Pick the option for another authenticator app and follow the prompts. LSC's public pages don't show these screens.
- When a QR code appears, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If it's on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- If you can't scan it, look for a button that shows a key. LSC's screenshots of the Microsoft Authenticator screens label it Can't scan image?. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- When the page asks for a code, type the one Novaz shows.
LSC doesn't give its code length or interval, so scan the QR code if you can: it carries those settings, while a typed key always gets 6 digits every 30 seconds.
If you already use Duo, Trulioo or another app for a different school, LSC says you can add your LSC account to it (Lone Star College).
When LSC asks for a code
Only off campus, or off the LSC network. On the same device, network and browser, LSC expects the next prompt in about 90 days; any change brings it sooner. It asks every time if you browse in InPrivate or Incognito mode, clear your cache when the browser closes, sign out instead of closing the browser, or use Apple's Private Relay (Lone Star College).
The MFA setup site is the exception: it asks for a code every time, even on campus, before you can change your methods.
Add a second method
LSC's pages don't mention backup codes. Its 2023 guide recommends registering two methods in case one stops working, and says you can add the second later in your security settings (Lone Star College). Unless you back up Novaz with iCloud backup or a backup file, its keys stay on your iPhone alone, so a phone-call method on a number you'll keep is worth adding.
If LSC rejects your code
LSC's help doesn't cover rejected authenticator codes. Check your iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Moving to a new iPhone
LSC's public page says method changes happen on the MFA setup site, after a code (Lone Star College). So switch while the old phone still works: sign in at LoneStar.edu/MFA-Setup with a code from it, then set up Novaz on the new iPhone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Use your second method, if you have one, to sign in to the MFA setup site and add Novaz again. If not, contact LSC's IT Service Desk (Lone Star College):
- Phone: 281.318.HELP (4357), or toll-free 866.614.5014, 6 a.m. to midnight, every day.
- In person: a walk-up appointment at a campus Tech Hub.
- Online: a ticket or chat in the LSC Service Center, which itself needs MFA off campus.
LSC's pages don't say what proof of identity the Service Desk asks for or how long a reset takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Dual-credit students and retirees
Texas House Bill 1481 bars personal phones during the school day, so dual-credit students can verify once in the morning on their phone, or use Microsoft Authenticator or text codes on a school-issued computer (Lone Star College). Novaz fits only the phone route.
Retirees get a new retiree account and set up MFA again at LoneStar.edu/MFASetup-Retirees, with two methods (Lone Star College). The 2023 retiree guide covers text, phone call and Microsoft Authenticator, not other apps.
