Particle 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your Particle account is what you use for the Particle Console, the Web IDE, the Particle CLI and the cloud API that your IoT devices talk to. Particle calls its 2FA "two-step authentication", and its docs describe one method only: a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone. It's optional, though Particle recommends that every developer turn it on (Particle).

Particle is stricter than most services about recovery: its main help page says support can't switch two-step authentication off for you, so losing your phone and your recovery codes may mean losing the account. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Particle steps come from Particle's own documentation and FAQ pages, including the screenshots on its two-step authentication page, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Particle account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Particle offers the setup when you log in. If you skipped it, you can start it later from the enrollment page at login.particle.io/mfa-enroll (Particle). The screenshots in Particle's docs show these screens:

1. Log in at login.particle.io. On the Enable Two-Step Authentication screen, select Enable Two-Step Authentication. (skip for now lets you in without it.)
2. Particle shows a QR code under Setup The Authentication App On Your Phone. 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 and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
3. If you can't scan it, there's a Can't scan it? link under the code. Particle's docs don't show what it opens. If it gives you a text key, in Novaz tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
4. Select Next.
5. On Two-Step Authentication Recovery Codes, save the codes with Download, Print or Copy, then select Next.

Particle's docs don't say how often its codes change. Scanning the QR code is the safer choice, because it carries the settings to your app.

Save the ten recovery codes

Particle gives you ten one-time recovery codes. Its FAQ asks you to print them and keep them somewhere secure, and not to rely on a copy stored on your phone (Particle). Each code works once.

The same FAQ notes that apps which keep keys only on the phone leave you dependent on those codes if the phone is lost. Novaz is one of those apps unless you make a backup: without iCloud backup or a backup file, its keys stay on your iPhone, and the recovery codes are your way back in. See 2FA backup codes.

If you've lost the codes but still have your phone, the remaining ones are on your account info page at login.particle.io/account-info (Particle). You get there from the Console by selecting your email address at the top right, then Edit Account (Particle).

When Particle asks for a code

On the web, Particle asks for the 6-digit code on the Two-Step Authentication screen after your email and password. A Remember this device box keeps a trusted device signed in for longer. The Particle CLI asks for a login code during particle login, and the iOS and Android Particle apps support it too (Particle).

Access tokens work differently. You need the code to create a token with your email and password, but the token itself works without it, so keep long-lived tokens safe (Particle).

If Particle rejects your code

Particle's docs don'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. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Particle allows only one authenticator device per account, which is also why it advises against two-step authentication on an account several people share. To switch phones, Particle's way is to turn off two-step authentication on the account info page, then turn it on again and scan the new QR code with the new phone (Particle). Do it while you still have the old phone. With Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead, and the Particle codes keep working. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Use a recovery code. On the code screen, select Use A Recovery Code under Don't have your phone?. Recovery codes only work on login.particle.io, not in the CLI or the mobile apps. If the phone is gone for good, Particle suggests turning off two-step authentication after you're in, then setting it up again (Particle).

Without your phone or a recovery code, Particle's pages disagree. The main two-step page says "We cannot disable two-step authentication from support for security reasons" and that the account is lost for good (Particle). The older account FAQ says to email support@particle.io from your registered address and prove the account is yours with details such as (Particle):

• the last four digits and expiry date of the credit card on the account,
• the number, type and names of devices claimed to it,
• the names of firmware sketches saved in the Web IDE.

Neither page says how long this takes. Plan as if the stricter rule applies. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Turn it off on the account info page (Particle). The docs don't name the button. Then remove the Particle entry in Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official Particle help

• Two-step authentication
• How should I set up 2FA for my Particle Account?
• Account Management FAQ (2FA, Account Deletion, Changing Your Particle ID)
• Authentication
• Accounts and access controls