Remote Desktop Manager 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Remote Desktop Manager is Devolutions' app for keeping remote connections, credentials and passwords in one place, on Windows and macOS. Its two-factor authentication doesn't work like a website login. The main option is a time-based code that Remote Desktop Manager asks for when the app starts on your computer, and it's stored locally, on that computer only (Devolutions). On top of that, some workspaces can have their own multifactor check, and the Devolutions Account you sign in with has its own as well.

These checks are optional, but an administrator can force the app or workspace check for a team (Devolutions). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Remote Desktop Manager steps come from Devolutions' own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 24, 2026. We haven't tested them in Remote Desktop Manager, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Three places a code can protect

• The app itself: File – Settings – Security. The code is asked for when Remote Desktop Manager starts, and when it unlocks after locking. This guide's steps cover this one.
• A workspace: for SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Azure SQL and Devolutions Server workspaces, the code guards opening that workspace (Devolutions).
• Your Devolutions Account: the account behind File – Devolutions Account. Its two-step verification is set up in the Devolutions Portal, not in the app (Devolutions).

Turn on the authenticator code for the app

Devolutions describes these steps (Devolutions, Devolutions):

1. In Remote Desktop Manager, open File – Settings – Security.
2. In the Multifactor authentication section, check Require a TOTP validation (Password Manager apps or Google Authenticator). On macOS the option is called Require a TOTP validation. An older article words the Windows label with "Devolutions Password Manager" instead, so yours may differ.
3. Click Configure under that option.
4. Remote Desktop Manager shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at your computer screen.
5. Type the code from Novaz as the Validation code, then click Validate, then OK.
6. Restart Remote Desktop Manager. It now asks for the code when it opens.

The Devolutions pages only mention scanning the QR code for this step. They don't describe a text key, so if your screen offers one, see What is a 2FA setup key? Devolutions' article notes a new code every 30 seconds, the same interval Novaz uses.

Override account name lets you change the name the entry gets in your authenticator app. The macOS page warns that you'll have to set the code up again if you change it.

Workspace MFA

Workspace multifactor uses the same kind of QR code, from a different place (Devolutions, Devolutions):

• SQL Server or Azure SQL: open the workspace, go to File – My account settings, click Workspace MFA, then Change, and pick Authenticator (TOTP).
• SQLite: go to File – Workspaces, edit the workspace, click None next to Multifactor, then Change.
• Devolutions Server: it's set per user by an administrator in the server's web interface, under Administration – Users, on the Multi-factor tab.
• Devolutions Cloud: in the web interface, under Administration – Authentication, an administrator turns on Enforce multi-factor verification on Devolutions Account, so the check is your Devolutions Account's own.

After picking Authenticator (TOTP), click Configure, scan the QR code with Novaz, enter the Validation code and click Validate.

Don't save the code that opens Remote Desktop Manager as a one-time password entry inside Remote Desktop Manager. The app can store such codes (Devolutions), but you'd need to be inside to read the code that lets you in. Devolutions' pages don't raise this, but it holds for any lock of this kind.

Backup codes

The pages on the app-level and workspace codes don't mention backup codes. Your Devolutions Account is different: setting up its two-step verification makes you save sign-in recovery codes first (Devolutions). If you have no Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), the keys exist only on your iPhone, so those codes are your safety net. See 2FA backup codes.

If Remote Desktop Manager rejects your code

Devolutions has no page on a rejected startup code. Its troubleshooting page for the one-time passwords the app stores points first at the clock, which applies here too (Devolutions). On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Check your computer's clock too. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Devolutions doesn't describe moving the code to a new phone. If you keep a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new iPhone and the code comes with it. Otherwise, set the code up again from Configure while the old phone still works. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

What works depends on which code you lost (Devolutions, Devolutions, Devolutions, Devolutions):

• The app's code: close Remote Desktop Manager and rename its settings folder. On Windows, rename the RemoteDesktopManager folder in C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Devolutions. On macOS, rename the RemoteDesktopManager.cfg file in /Users/[Username]/Library/Application Support/com.Devolutions.RemoteDesktopManager. The app then starts as if newly installed, so your settings are reset too.
• A local workspace: close the app and delete RemoteDesktopManager.stv and RemoteDesktopManager.enc from the same folder. Devolutions says this doesn't work for SQL workspaces.
• Devolutions Server: an administrator edits your user and sets the multifactor Type to None.
• Your Devolutions Account: choose Connect with a different method when signing in and enter a recovery code. Without one, write to service@devolutions.net. Devolutions doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long it takes.

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Remote Desktop Manager help

• Security
• Configure Google Authenticator 2-factor authentication
• Multifactor authentication
• Authenticator (TOTP)
• OTP issues
• One-time password
• Lost the MFA set on the Remote Desktop Manager application
• Lost the MFA set on the workspace
• Lost the MFA set on Devolutions Server
• Lost the MFA set on the Devolutions Account
• Multifactor authentication (Devolutions Portal)