mos.ru 2FA: 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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mos.ru, the Moscow city portal, lets you confirm sign-ins with a code from an app on your phone, but its help center doesn't explain how. The only official description is a short April 2023 announcement about the redesigned Безопасность (Security) section of the personal account (mos.ru). Here's what mos.ru has published, and where it stops.
Your mos.ru account is the one you use for city services such as utility bills, doctor appointments and traffic fines (mos.ru). Two-factor authentication, which mos.ru calls подтверждение входа (sign-in confirmation), is optional, though the city's data protection page lists it among the steps you can take yourself (mos.ru). After your password, mos.ru asks for a code: a push notification in the «Госуслуги Москвы» app, a text message, or a code from a code-generator app (mos.ru). We use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone for that last option. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the mos.ru steps come from mos.ru's own pages, linked below: its help article on the personal account (updated August 20, 2026), the city's data protection page, and an April 14, 2023 announcement from the Moscow Department of Information Technology. We read them on October 20, 2026. They're in Russian, so we give mos.ru's labels in Russian with our translation. We haven't tested the steps on a mos.ru account, and no official page shows the code-app screens, so what you see may differ. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on the code-generator app
- Sign in at mos.ru and open your personal account. In Профиль (Profile), select Безопасность (Security) in the top right corner. The help also links it directly, at my.mos.ru/my/#/settings/security (mos.ru).
- Find the sign-in confirmation options. For text messages, the announcement says to select Подключить (Connect) next to the option you want. It doesn't describe the screens for the code-generator app.
- If mos.ru shows a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the iPhone you're using, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- If you get only a text key, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- If mos.ru asks for a code to finish, type the current one from Novaz.
mos.ru doesn't say how long its codes are or how often they change. A QR code passes those settings to Novaz, while a key typed by hand always gives 6-digit codes every 30 seconds. So if you're offered both, scan.
Signing in afterwards
The code comes after your password. The app makes it «без подключения к интернету и сотовой связи» (without an internet or cellular connection), so no signal is needed (mos.ru). mos.ru's pages don't say whether it asks every time or only on new devices. Nor do they say whether it asks when you sign in another way, such as with Gosuslugi, Sber ID, Yandex, VK or a QR code from the «Моя Москва» app (mos.ru).
An email titled «Предупреждение о входе» (Sign-in warning) means a sign-in from a new device or browser. If it wasn't you, remove that device under Профиль > Безопасность > Устройства и активности (Devices and activity) (mos.ru).
No backup codes on record
None of mos.ru's pages mention backup or recovery codes. Unless you've turned on iCloud backup or exported a backup file in Novaz, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so losing the phone means losing the key. Keep the email address and phone number in your profile current: mos.ru uses them to recover a password, though its pages don't say whether they help with a lost code app.
If mos.ru rejects your code
mos.ru's pages don't cover wrong codes. The usual cause is the iPhone's clock: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. If you typed the key by hand and the first code fails, set it up again by scanning the QR code. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
mos.ru doesn't describe moving the code app to a new phone. If you use Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the mos.ru codes keep working. Without one, while the old iPhone still works, sign in, open Безопасность, and look for a way to connect the app again from the new one. Then remove mos.ru from Novaz on the old phone with Remove account. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
mos.ru's pages don't say what to do when you lose the app that makes your codes. Its help for people locked out is written for a lost password, and it points to technical support: by phone at +7 (495) 539-55-55, through the feedback form, or at a «Мои документы» service center. To restore the password, you'll need your passport and SNILS, the Russian insurance number (mos.ru). The help doesn't say whether support can also switch off sign-in confirmation, or how long it takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Official mos.ru help
- Как пользоваться личным кабинетом на mos.ru (using your personal account)
- Управлять настройками безопасности аккаунта на портале mos.ru стало удобнее (the redesigned Security section, April 14, 2023)
- Как защищают персональные данные на mos.ru (how mos.ru protects personal data)
- Форма обратной связи (support feedback form)