Notion 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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Your Notion account holds your pages, notes and team workspaces. Notion calls its two-factor authentication 2-step verification. It's optional and available on every plan, with one condition people often miss: your account needs a password. If you've only signed in with emailed codes, Google or Apple, you may not have one yet (Notion).
Notion offers two methods: an authenticator app or text messages. Depending on your region, the authenticator app may be the only choice. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Notion steps come from Notion's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Notion account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Before you start
- Set a password if you don't have one. In the sidebar, go to Settings, select your name, then Set a password (Notion).
- Company sign-in: if your organization requires login through an identity provider such as Okta, Microsoft Azure or Google Workspace, Notion's 2-step verification isn't available. Notion suggests turning on two-factor authentication with the identity provider instead (Notion).
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
Notion's help describes these steps (Notion):
- Go to Settings in your sidebar and select your name.
- Under Account security, select Add verification method next to 2-step verification.
- Choose Code from authenticator. (Text me a code is the text-message option, if your region has it.)
- Notion 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.
- Give the method a name in Notion, so you can tell it apart later.
- Enter the code from Novaz to finish.
- If this is your first verification method, save the backup codes Notion shows you.
Notion's help mentions only the QR code, so scan it. If Notion does show a key, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz and type it as the Setup key.
Save your backup codes
When you add your first method, Notion gives you a set of six backup codes. Each one works once. When you've used them all, you can make a new set in your settings (Notion).
If your iPhone is lost and you have no current Novaz backup, these codes are your way back in. Keep them off that phone, in a password manager or on paper. More in 2FA backup codes.
You can also have up to four methods, two authenticators and two phone numbers (Notion). A second method is another way in.
When Notion asks for a code
Notion asks for a code when you sign in with your email address and password, and before you change your verification methods (Notion). Its help doesn't say whether signing in with Google, Apple, a passkey or an emailed code also asks (Notion), or whether it remembers trusted devices.
Enterprise workspaces can also require MFA from guests. If you're a guest in one, you'll see an extra verification screen before you can keep viewing it (Notion).
If Notion rejects your code
Notion'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 the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
Do this while the old phone still works (Notion):
- Go to Settings, select your name, then Change verification method next to 2-step verification.
- Verify with an active method, such as the authenticator on your old phone.
- Select Add authenticator and scan the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone.
- Next to the old authenticator, select •••, then Delete, and confirm.
If you use Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. Without one, each account has to be added again on the new phone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Sign in with your email address and password. When Notion asks for the code, select Try another method, then Use backup code (Notion). If you added a second authenticator or a phone number, you can use that instead. Once you're in, replace the lost authenticator under Change verification method. Notion's help doesn't say whether a backup code works for that step.
Without a backup code or another method, contact Notion at team@makenotion.com (Notion). Its help doesn't say what proof support asks for or how long recovery takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Turning 2FA off
Go to Change verification method and verify, then select ••• next to a method, choose Delete, and confirm (Notion). Notion's help doesn't say what happens to your backup codes. After you delete it in Notion, open the account in Novaz and tap Remove account.
