Opera account 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your Opera account is the sign-in behind Opera's sync, which carries your bookmarks, open tabs, history and saved passwords between your Opera browsers. It's also your login for the Opera forums and add-ons catalog (Opera).

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional. Once it's on, Opera's sign-in page asks for a second step after your password: a code from an authenticator app, a security key, or one of your backup codes. There's no text-message option (Opera). Opera's help center doesn't cover any of this, so we flag where the official information stops. The steps use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone; other authenticator apps work the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Opera steps come from a post by an Opera employee on Opera's official forum and from the text and code of Opera's account site at auth.opera.com, all linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. Opera's help center has no page on two-factor authentication, and the setup screens only appear after sign-in, so labels may differ. We haven't tested the steps on an Opera account. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Where Opera put the setting

In August 2019 an Opera employee posted on the forum: "Two factor authentication is now available" (Opera forum, staff post). He then pointed users to their profile at auth.opera.com/account/edit-profile (Opera forum, staff post). Today the profile menu has a Security page, which holds the authenticator app, backup code and security key settings (Opera).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Verify your account's email address first if you haven't; Opera's account help recommends it (Opera).

1. Sign in at auth.opera.com on a computer and open your profile.
2. Choose Security in the menu and start the authenticator setup in the two-factor section.
3. If Opera shows Please confirm your password to continue, enter your Opera password. Accounts made with a social sign-in have no Opera password: Opera signs you out and has you sign in again with that account instead (Opera).
4. Opera shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If scanning fails, use the key Opera prints under the QR code in groups of four characters. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, put Opera under Service, and type the key as the Setup key without the spaces. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz to confirm the setup.
7. Save the backup codes Opera shows next (see below).

Opera doesn't say how often its codes change, so scan if you can: the QR code passes that setting to your app, while a typed key gets 30 seconds.

Save your backup codes

The setup ends with backup codes, 8 characters each (Opera), and the security page offers Print, Copy to clipboard and Download to save them (Opera). Opera doesn't say how many you get or whether each works only once.

Keep them off your phone. Even with a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, these codes are worth keeping for a lost phone when that backup is missing or old. If someone may have seen them, use Generate backup codes on the security page for a new set. A security key added on the same page gives you another way in. More in 2FA backup codes.

Signing in afterwards

After your email and password, or after a social sign-in, Opera opens Enter your verification code. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz and choose Confirm (Opera). Opera doesn't say whether it remembers trusted devices.

A forgotten password won't get you past this. When you reset it through Forgot password?, the account site asks for an app code, a backup code or a security key as part of the reset (Opera).

If Opera rejects your code

Opera gives no advice here. Check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when it's 15 seconds or more off. If you've set up Opera more than once, only the entry from the latest setup works. More causes in Authenticator code not working?

Moving to a new iPhone, or turning 2FA off

Opera doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. Do it while the old phone still works: on the Security page, choose Deactivate for the authenticator app (Opera may ask for your password), then set it up again with the new iPhone and save the new backup codes. Deactivate on its own turns 2FA off. If you have 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

On the code screen, choose Use a backup code and enter one, or Use security key if you added one (Opera). Then set up the authenticator again.

Without either, Opera's official pages offer no way back in. Its account help covers forgotten passwords and sync resets, and sends everything else to the forums (Opera). It doesn't say whether staff can remove 2FA, what proof they'd want, or how long that takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Opera help

• [Implemented]Multi-factor (Opera forum; rfurmanski is an Opera employee)
• Frequently-asked questions for Opera accounts
• Opera Account (sign-in page)
• Opera Account (Security page, after you sign in)
• Opera Account (password reset)