Passpack 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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Passpack is a password manager for teams, so your account often holds logins your whole company shares. Passpack's multi-factor authentication (MFA) settings list three options: Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator and a YubiKey (Passpack). The two app options don't lock you into those brands. Each one shows a QR code and a secret key, which any authenticator app can read. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but other apps follow the same steps.
How we checked this guide: the Passpack steps come from Passpack's support page, its documentation site and its release notes, linked below, which we read on October 24, 2026. Some labels come from the screenshots on Passpack's support page. We haven't tested them on a Passpack account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Is it required?
That's up to your organization. Passpack's user guide says that if your organization uses MFA with Passpack, you have to turn on one of the methods before you can get in (Passpack). On the Business plan, administrators whose company signs in through single sign-on (SSO) can let users skip Passpack's own MFA check, on the grounds that the SSO login already asks for one (Passpack). If you sign in through Microsoft or Google, ask your administrator whether the Passpack step applies.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
Passpack's support page walks through the Google Authenticator row, and its screenshots show these labels (Passpack):
- Sign in to Passpack in a web browser. Open Settings, then Security under My Preferences.
- Open the Multi Factor Authentication tab.
- Next to Google Authenticator, select ACTIVATE. Skip the offer to download Google's app.
- Passpack shows a QR Code and a Secret Key. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If you're looking at Passpack on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- Select NEXT, type the 6-digit code from Novaz in the Code box, and select NEXT again.
In one screenshot, the dialog offers to copy the secret key or download it so you can add another device later. If you'd rather enter it by hand, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
Scan the QR code if you can. The support page says the code "changes every minute," while Novaz's manual entry always uses 30 seconds. A QR code carries the right timing; afterward you can check Interval under Details in Novaz.
Passpack's documentation site uses other wording for the same flow, such as Add Google Authenticator, Verify Token and Save (Passpack), so your screen may match either.
Your ten emergency codes
Once the authenticator is on, Passpack creates ten one-time emergency codes (Passpack). They appear on the same settings tab under Backup MFA Codes (older screenshots say Emergency Access Codes), with GENERATE NEW CODES to replace them and, in one screenshot, DOWNLOAD. Without a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), the keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are your way back in if that iPhone is gone. Store them somewhere else. More in 2FA backup codes.
Since August 15, 2026, the screen that asks for your security code at sign-in has a link for entering one of these backup codes. Passpack's release notes say a wrong code clears the boxes, and too many wrong tries end the login attempt (Passpack).
A code for Passpack, kept in Passpack?
Passpack can store authenticator codes for other websites in your records (Passpack). Its pages don't address storing Passpack's own code there, but it wouldn't work: you'd have to be signed in to read the code that signs you in. Keep it in a separate app.
If Passpack rejects your code
Passpack's help doesn't cover rejected codes. Check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. If you typed the key by hand, remove the account and add it again from the QR code, because of the timing note above. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Locked out or changing phones
Sign in with one of your emergency codes. Passpack says those codes let you in so you can reset your 2FA settings from inside the app (Passpack). If you don't have them, Passpack's FAQ tells you to email Customer Service at support@passpack.com, and its team will help you regain access (Passpack). Passpack doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long that takes.
An MFA reset doesn't cover your Packing Key, the key that encrypts your data. Passpack's FAQ says it can't recover a lost Packing Key for a main admin account (Passpack).
For a new iPhone, Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file lets you restore your accounts there. Without one, switch while the old iPhone still works, because you'll add Passpack again. Passpack doesn't document this case, but its settings tab shows a DEACTIVATE button next to each active method and says several methods can be active at once (Passpack). See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
