Pushover 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Pushover is the service that turns scripts, servers, smart-home tools and other apps into push notifications on your phone and desktop. The account behind it holds your user key, your application API tokens and your e-mail aliases, which is a good reason to protect it. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional, and Pushover supports one kind: time-based codes (TOTP) from an authenticator app (Pushover).

Before you turn it on, know the catch. Pushover support won't switch 2FA off for you if you lose both your authenticator and your recovery codes. The only way back is to delete the account and start over. The steps below use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Pushover steps come from Pushover's own support article, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. It was last updated on September 15, 2026. We haven't tested the steps on a Pushover 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

Pushover's support article describes this flow (Pushover):

1. Log in to your account on the Pushover website and open your Settings page.
2. Type your current account password.
3. Check the box Setup Two-Factor Auth, then click Save Account Settings.
4. Pushover shows its setup instructions with a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the page is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If you'd rather type it, Pushover also lets you enter the secret by hand. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type "Pushover" as the Service, your e-mail address as the Account if you like, and the secret as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Write down the list of recovery codes Pushover gives you (next section), then finish the remaining setup steps on the page.

The article doesn't list the rest of the on-screen labels, and it doesn't say how many digits the codes have or how often they change. Scanning the QR code is the safer route, because the code carries those settings to your app. A key typed by hand always gets 6 digits every 30 seconds in Novaz.

Save the recovery codes before anything else

During setup, Pushover generates a list of recovery codes. Each one works once, in place of a code from your app, so after you use one, the next sign-in needs a different code (Pushover).

These codes matter more at Pushover than at most services, because they're the only backup it documents. Keep them somewhere other than your phone: on paper, or in a password manager. Pushover adds one warning here. If the same password manager also makes your 2FA codes, don't store the recovery codes in it, since losing that one place would cost you both.

A Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file) can bring your keys to a new iPhone, but the recovery codes are what saves you if there's no backup or it's out of date. The article doesn't say whether you can see the codes again or make new ones later. More in 2FA backup codes.

When Pushover asks for a code

Once 2FA is on, Pushover wants a current code each time you log in to your account. It also asks for one before some account changes, such as a new password (Pushover). The article doesn't mention a way to trust or remember a device.

If Pushover rejects your code

Pushover's article doesn't cover rejected codes. The most common cause is the iPhone's clock. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Pushover's article doesn't explain how to move 2FA to a new phone, or how to turn it off. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone. Without one, keep the old phone working until the new one is set up. Your recovery codes cover you if the old phone goes first. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Use one of your recovery codes to log in. After that, there's no documented safety net.

Pushover explains why. Without 2FA, anyone who controls your e-mail could reset your password, and many people turn on 2FA to stop exactly that. So if you lose both the authenticator and the recovery codes, Pushover can't confirm you're the owner, and "we will not manually reset 2FA on an account" (Pushover).

If you contact support anyway, the one option it offers is to delete your account so you can sign up again with the same e-mail address. That has real costs (Pushover):

• Your Pushover user key changes.
• All of your application API tokens stop working.
• Your e-mail aliases stop working.

Every script or app that sends you notifications would then need updating. Pushover does say you can restore your earlier in-app purchase on the new account, so you don't lose the license you paid for.

General advice for this situation is in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Pushover help

• Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA or MFA) and lost 2FA recovery