Skip to content
Novaz AuthenticatorGET

PayPal 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Text messages or an app?
  2. Turn on 2-step verification with an authenticator app
  3. No backup codes
  4. When PayPal asks for a code
  5. If PayPal rejects your code
  6. Changing phones
  7. If you lose your authenticator
  8. Turning 2-step verification off
  9. Official PayPal help

Your PayPal account usually has a bank account or card linked to it. PayPal calls its optional two-factor authentication 2-step verification, and its US help article describes one way to get the codes: an authenticator app (PayPal). Two things to know first: you can only set it up in a web browser, not in the PayPal app (PayPal), and PayPal's help says nothing about backup codes. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the PayPal steps come from PayPal's own help pages, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. PayPal's help differs a little from country to country, so we say which version each step comes from. We haven't tested them on a PayPal account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Text messages or an app?

PayPal's security page still offers Text me a code as well as an authenticator app (PayPal). But the Canadian and UK versions of the help article warn that if you turn off 2-step verification by text, you can't turn text codes back on (PayPal). And with text codes, a new phone number you haven't added to PayPal can lock you out (PayPal). An authenticator app doesn't depend on your phone number.

Turn on 2-step verification with an authenticator app

Use paypal.com in a web browser. For a personal account, PayPal's US help gives these steps (PayPal):

  1. Log in and click the Settings icon next to Log out.
  2. Click Security near the top of the page.
  3. Click Set Up to the right of 2-step verification.
  4. Choose Use an authenticator app.
  5. Click Set it Up and follow the steps on the screen.

For a business account, go to Profile Settings, click Log in and Security on the left, then Update next to 2-step verification, and carry on from step 4.

PayPal doesn't list the screens after Set it Up. Its UK help says you scan the QR code or enter the unique serial key shown on paypal.com (PayPal). In Novaz:

  • QR code: tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at your computer screen. If PayPal is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  • Serial key: tap +, then Enter key manually. Type PayPal as the Service, your email as the Account if you like, and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

PayPal doesn't give its code length or interval, so scan the QR code if you can: it carries those settings, while a typed key always gets 6 digits every 30 seconds. If PayPal asks for a code to finish, type the one Novaz shows for PayPal.

No backup codes

None of PayPal's help pages mention backup or recovery codes. Unless you turn on Novaz's iCloud backup or keep a backup file, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so that phone is your only source of PayPal codes. Keep your phone number and email current in PayPal, because that's where it sends one-time passcodes when it wants extra proof (PayPal).

When PayPal asks for a code

With 2FA on, PayPal's security page says you need your password and a code each time you log in, and warns: "PayPal will never ask you for this code over the phone, email or text" (PayPal). Anyone who asks you for it isn't PayPal.

PayPal may also ask you to confirm your identity when it sees a new device or unusual activity, by text, call, email or security questions (PayPal).

If PayPal rejects your code

PayPal's help doesn't cover rejected authenticator codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz shows a warning when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. For other causes, see our guide to codes that don't work.

Changing phones

PayPal's help doesn't describe moving the authenticator. It does document turning 2-step verification off (below) and on again, so do both while the old iPhone still makes codes. If you use Novaz's iCloud backup or keep a backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead; without one, you add PayPal on the new phone from a fresh QR code. See moving to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

PayPal has no help page about a lost authenticator app. Its page for locked-out customers says to phone PayPal (PayPal):

  1. Go to Contact Us.
  2. Choose Call Us near the bottom of the page, and call as a guest to see the number.
  3. Have your phone number, a statement for a card or bank account linked to PayPal, and the email address you registered with.

PayPal doesn't say how long this takes, or whether support can switch off 2-step verification. If the lost phone had the PayPal app, remove it from your remembered devices once you're back in: Settings > Security > Manage your logins > Manage (PayPal). See also what to do when the phone with your authenticator is gone.

Turning 2-step verification off

The US article no longer lists these steps, but the Canadian version of it does (PayPal):

  1. Go to Settings and click Security.
  2. Click Update next to 2-step verification.
  3. Click Turn Off, then the Turn It Off button.

On a business account, open your Profile, click Update next to 2-step verification, then Turn off and Turn Off. Then remove the PayPal entry in Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official PayPal help

More guides: Payments, accounting and insurance