o2switch 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

o2switch, the French web host, gives you two logins, each with its own two-factor authentication (2FA): the client area (espace client) at clients.o2switch.fr, for orders and invoices, and cPanel, where you manage the hosting. Protecting both means setting up the app twice, with two o2switch entries in it.

Neither is required. The client area already emails a code when you sign in from an unknown IP address; you can swap that for an app. cPanel's 2FA, as o2switch describes it, works only with an authenticator app (o2switch, o2switch). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the o2switch steps come from o2switch's own documentation site, linked below, including its screenshots, which we read on October 21, 2026. The pages and the interface are in French, so we quote the French labels and give a translation. We haven't tested them on an o2switch account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Client area: turn on the authenticator app

o2switch calls this method TOTP (o2switch):

1. Sign in to the client area and open Informations Personnelles (personal information), then the Modifier mes informations tab.
2. Under Modifier mes préférences, find the Double authentification field and pick Activer la double authentification TOTP.
3. Type your password and click Mettre à jour mes préférences (update my preferences).
4. A page titled Votre Secret code shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the page is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. Above the QR code, under Code à sauvegarder (code to save), o2switch shows the key as text. To type it, tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Click Activer mon secret code, type the 6-digit code from Novaz, and click Vérifier le code.

The IP whitelist

A second field, Liste blanche des IP pour la double authentification, sets how often you're asked. With the whitelist on, which is the default, o2switch skips the code for IP addresses that have signed in successfully before (o2switch). Turn it off to be asked every time.

cPanel: turn on the authenticator app

This applies to the Offre Unique Grow, Cloud and Pro plans and to managed servers (o2switch):

1. In cPanel, open the Authentification à deux facteurs tool.
2. Click Configurer l'authentification à deux facteurs.
3. Under Étape 1, scan the QR code with Novaz (+, then Scan QR code).
4. No camera handy? The same screen lists a compte (account) and a Clé (key). Use Enter key manually in Novaz and put the key in Setup key.
5. Under Étape 2, type the 6-digit code into Code de sécurité and click Configurer l'authentification à deux facteurs again.

From then on, cPanel asks for your password and a code at each sign-in. The 2FA also covers the cPanel API, so scripts must send a code with each request. o2switch points to cPanel's own documentation for how (o2switch).

No backup codes

Neither page mentions backup or recovery codes. Instead, o2switch tells you to back up or export your authenticator app so you can restore it on another phone. Novaz can: turn on iCloud backup (PRO) or use Export to file… under Settings › Backup.

You can also keep a copy of each key when you set it up, in a password manager or somewhere safe away from your phone. Typing a saved key into a new phone recreates the same codes.

If o2switch rejects your code

o2switch's pages only note that the code changes every 30 seconds. If it's refused, check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Also check you're reading the right entry: the client area and cPanel have different keys. More in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore your accounts on the new iPhone (how to move to a new iPhone). Otherwise, if you saved both keys, add them to the new phone with Enter key manually. If not, while you can still sign in, switch the client area back to email codes and run the TOTP setup again. o2switch doesn't document turning cPanel's 2FA off, so check the tool for that option before you give up the old phone.

If you lose your authenticator

Without a Novaz backup or a saved key, o2switch says the only way back in is its technical support, for both the client area and cPanel. For the client area, write from the email address on your customer record. Support may ask for more documents, such as an ID, before it removes the 2FA (o2switch). o2switch doesn't say how long this takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning it off

In the client area, go back to Modifier mes préférences and pick Désactiver la double authentification in the Double authentification field, or pick the email option instead. Then confirm with your password (o2switch).

Official o2switch help

• Authentification à deux facteurs - 2FA - MFA (client area, updated April 26, 2025)
• Authentification à deux facteurs (cPanel, updated April 7, 2025)
• Comment se connecter à l'espace client o2switch ?