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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

QNAP 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your NAS

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

On this page
  1. Before you start
  2. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  3. Signing in
  4. If QNAP rejects your code
  5. Changing phones
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. Turning 2FA off
  8. Your QNAP account is separate
  9. Official QNAP help

QNAP's 2-step verification protects a user account on your own NAS, the one you sign in to in QTS or QuTS hero. Each user turns it on for their own account, and an administrator can make it mandatory for chosen users or groups. Of QNAP's four sign-in methods, three (QR Code, Login Approval and Online Verification Code) only work with QNAP's own app, QNAP Authenticator. The fourth, Security Code (TOTP), also works with apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator, and every setup has to include it (QNAP). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the QNAP steps come from QNAP's online user guides for QTS 5.2, QuTS hero h5.3 and QNAP Authenticator, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. qnap.com turned away our automated reader, so we read one older QNAP tutorial there in an archived copy on web.archive.org, saved in August 2025. We haven't tested the steps on a QNAP NAS, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Before you start

  • Pick one: 2-step verification or passwordless login. QTS can't run both at once, and passwordless login needs QNAP Authenticator (QNAP).
  • Have an email address ready. QNAP doesn't document backup codes. A code sent to a recovery email address is its fallback when your phone isn't available (QNAP).
  • Check the NAS clock. QNAP asks for the NAS and the phone to show the same time. On the NAS, go to Control Panel > System > General Settings > Time and choose Synchronize with a time server automatically (QNAP).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

These steps are for QTS 5.1 or later and QuTS hero h5.1 or later (QNAP, QNAP):

  1. Sign in to the NAS, click your username on the desktop task bar, and select Login and Security.
  2. Open the 2-Step Verification tab and enter a recovery email address. The personal email in your user profile is fine.
  3. Click Get Started. In Verify Your Identity, enter your password and click OK.
  4. Select Security Code (TOTP) and click Start.
  5. QNAP now tells you to install QNAP Authenticator. Novaz doesn't need it, so click Next to get to the QR code.
  6. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If the NAS is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  7. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz, click Verify, then Finish. Enter your password again and click OK. Skip the extra methods offered on the summary screen: they need QNAP Authenticator.

QNAP's current steps are written for its own app and don't mention a text key, though its QTS 5.0 guide showed a security key beside the QR code (QNAP). If you see one, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz and paste it as the Setup key. QNAP's 6-digit, 30-second codes match what Novaz makes from a typed key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Older firmware: on QTS 5.0, the setting is at Options > 2-step Verification > Get Started. Instead of a recovery email, that wizard asks you to pick a security question or an emailed code as the backup (QNAP).

Signing in

After your username and password, enter the current code from Novaz and click Next. Try another way lets you switch to another method, including a code sent to your recovery email. Turn on Don't verify again on this device if you want fewer prompts on a computer you trust (QNAP).

If QNAP rejects your code

Out-of-sync clocks are the cause QNAP warns about. Fix the NAS as above, and on the iPhone open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the iPhone's clock is 15 seconds or more off. Don't keep guessing: QNAP's older tutorial says wrong codes count against the NAS's protection against repeated failed logins (QNAP). More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

QNAP doesn't describe moving codes to a new phone. While the old one still works, turn 2-step verification off and set it up again with the new phone. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Try these in order (QNAP):

  1. Email code. On the sign-in screen, choose Try another way and use the code sent to your recovery email.
  2. Another administrator. They can go to Control Panel > Privilege > Users, edit your account profile, and click Disable 2-step Verification (QNAP).
  3. The reset button. If you're the only administrator and can't get the email, press the reset button on the NAS for 3 seconds. This turns on the default admin account. On QTS 5.2 its password is the device's Cloud Key, printed on a sticker on the NAS, without the dash and in capitals (QNAP). QNAP's QTS 5.1 guide gives the MAC address of the first network adapter instead (QNAP). Sign in as admin, turn off 2-step verification for your own account, then disable admin again.

This reset keeps your files but also sets the network to DHCP, the system port to 8080 and the security level to low, so check those afterwards. QNAP's QTS 5.0 guide warns that holding the button for 10 seconds goes further and deletes users, groups and shared folders (QNAP). QNAP doesn't describe a support route for this. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

Click your username, select Login and Security, open the 2-Step Verification tab, and click Disable under Protect your account with 2-Step Verification. Enter your password and click OK.

Your QNAP account is separate

Your QNAP account (QNAP ID), which myQNAPcloud uses for remote access, has its own 2-step verification. Go to QNAP Account > Security > 2-Step Verification, click Setup now, enter your password and click Edit. Choose Verify through an app, scan the QR code, enter the code and click Verify. Text messages are the other option. QNAP's page doesn't mention backup codes (QNAP).

Official QNAP help

More guides: Cloud storage and backup