Qlik 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your Qlik Account

Your Qlik Account is the sign-in behind Qlik Cloud. The same account also opens Qlik Community, Qlik Learning, the Support Portal and, through a shared login, Talend Cloud (Qlik). Qlik calls its two-step sign-in multi-factor authentication (MFA), and the only method it documents is a one-time code from an authenticator app. What stands out is the backup: you get a single recovery code, not a list, and it changes every time you use it. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Qlik steps come from Qlik's own help pages, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Qlik account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

First, check who runs your sign-in

These steps only apply when Qlik Account is the identity provider for your Qlik Cloud tenant. If your company signs you in through its own identity provider, two-step sign-in is set up there, and you follow your company's process instead (Qlik).

With Qlik Account, MFA is optional for everyone, including the service account owner and tenant administrators. Qlik strongly recommends it for those two roles, and it notes that a tenant can't make MFA mandatory through Qlik Account. Organizations that want to require it are pointed to a third-party identity provider (Qlik).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Qlik's help describes this flow (Qlik):

1. In Qlik Cloud, click your user profile icon and select Manage account.
2. Select Security.
3. Under Multi-factor authentication, click Set up.
4. Qlik needs you to sign out first. Click Log out, then log in again. The MFA setup starts after you sign back in.
5. Qlik shows a QR code. 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 instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
6. If you can't scan it, click Trouble Scanning?. Qlik shows a code to type by hand. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and enter it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
7. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz on the Qlik page and click Continue.
8. Qlik shows your recovery code. Copy it and store it somewhere safe, then click Continue to finish.

Qlik's page says the codes have 6 digits but doesn't say how often they change. Scanning the QR code is the safer choice, because it passes the exact code settings to your app.

Qlik also asks you not to delete or uninstall the authenticator app once MFA is on, since you'll need it at every login.

Your one recovery code

Setup gives you one recovery code. It works a single time: once you use it, Qlik generates a new one, and you need to save that new code too (Qlik). Qlik suggests treating it like your password, for example by keeping it in a password manager.

If the phone is lost and you have no Novaz backup, that recovery code is how you get back in. Keep it off the phone, and update your copy whenever Qlik gives you a new one. More in 2FA backup codes.

To replace the code yourself, for example if you think someone has seen it (Qlik):

1. Go to Manage account > Security.
2. Under Account recovery, click Regenerate.
3. Click Log out, then log in again with a code from Novaz and click Continue.
4. Verify with MFA once more, then copy the new recovery code and click Continue.

When Qlik asks for a code

After your username and password, Qlik asks for a code from your app each time you log in. On the code screen you can select Remember this device for 30 days. Qlik stores that choice in a browser cookie, so clearing cookies or switching browsers brings the prompt back (Qlik).

If Qlik rejects your code

Qlik's page lists an invalid verification code among the reasons to sign in with your recovery code instead. Before you spend that code, check your iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones or losing your authenticator

Qlik handles a lost device, a code that won't work and a new smartphone the same way (Qlik):

1. Sign in with your recovery code.
2. Save the new recovery code Qlik gives you.
3. Set up MFA again with the authenticator app on your current phone.

If you've lost the recovery code as well, contact Qlik Support and ask them to reset MFA on your account. After the reset, log in to Qlik Cloud and set up MFA again. Qlik's page doesn't say what proof Support asks for or how long a reset takes.

If you restore Novaz from iCloud backup or a backup file, Qlik comes with it; otherwise a new phone means adding Qlik again. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Go to Manage account > Security, and under Multi-factor authentication, click Remove. Then click Log out and remove and log in again with a code from your app. MFA is then off, and you can set it up again later (Qlik). Afterwards, open Qlik in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official Qlik help

• Configuring multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Registering for a Qlik Account
• Qlik Support