Scaleway 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Scaleway is a European cloud provider. Its multifactor authentication (MFA) has two methods: a time-based code from an authenticator app (TOTP) and a passkey. The difference that matters is who can use which. Passkeys are for account Owners only, so if someone added you to their Organization as an IAM Member, an authenticator app is your only option (Scaleway). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

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

Your Organization may require it

An Owner can make MFA mandatory for everyone in an Organization, in the Organization's Security settings under Organization Multifactor Authentication (MFA) (Scaleway). Members who don't have it yet then get a grace period to set it up. The default is 3 days from your first login, and an administrator can change it. When it runs out, your Member account is locked, and only an Organization administrator can unlock it (Scaleway). If that applies to you, a security Checklist shows when you first log in, with an Enable MFA button that starts the steps below.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Scaleway's MFA page, reviewed on June 26, 2026, gives these steps (Scaleway):

1. Log in to the Scaleway console and open your Account Security page. As an IAM Member, click Credentials on your user overview page instead.
2. In the Authentication methods section, click Set up TOTP. A pop-up opens with a QR code.
3. 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. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If you can't scan it, Scaleway shows a setup code instead. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type Scaleway as the Service, and paste the code as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Type the current 6-digit code from Novaz into the box and click Submit.
6. Scaleway shows your backup codes. Download or copy them before you close the pop-up.

Scaleway says its codes are 6 digits but doesn't say how often they change. Scanning the QR code is the safer route, because it carries the code settings to the app.

Backup codes

The backup codes are single-use, and Scaleway's documentation says they're the only way back in if you lose your phone or the app (Scaleway). Scaleway suggests a password manager for them. Keep them even if you back up Novaz, in case the phone is gone and your Novaz backup is missing or out of date. Scaleway's pages don't describe a way to make a fresh set later, apart from setting up TOTP again, which shows new ones. More in 2FA backup codes.

Logging in with a code

Scaleway asks for the second step after your first sign-in step, whichever one you use: password, a one-time code sent by email, or Google, Microsoft, GitHub or SAML single sign-on (Scaleway). Signing in through Google or GitHub doesn't skip it.

If you have both a passkey and TOTP, the passkey screen comes up first. Click Switch to authenticator app, enter the code (or a backup code) and click Log in. Separately, Scaleway may send a one-time code to your email when you log in from an IP address it doesn't recognize. That email code is not your authenticator code (Scaleway).

If Scaleway rejects your code

Scaleway's documentation doesn't cover a rejected authenticator code. First make sure you're on the authenticator screen and not the passkey or email-code one. Then check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

New phone

Scaleway has an Update TOTP procedure: on the Account Security page, click Set up TOTP again, scan the new QR code, enter a code and save the new backup codes (Scaleway). You must be logged in, so do it before the old phone goes, or log in with a backup code first. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip this and restore your accounts on the new iPhone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

1. A backup code. At the code prompt, enter one of your backup codes and click Log in. You can then set TOTP up again on your new phone (Scaleway).
2. A passkey, if you're an Owner and added one, also gets you in.
3. IAM Members: an Organization administrator can turn off your MFA from the Credentials tab of your user page, using Disable MFA. If the Organization enforces MFA, you get a grace period to set it up again (Scaleway).
4. No codes and no passkey: Scaleway checks your identity by hand. On the login page, click Lost email? to open the account recovery form and choose Lost 2FA device as the Issue Type. Personal accounts upload an ID document and a bill in your name; corporate accounts upload a business certificate and a bill in the business name, as images or PDFs. Add your organization number if you have one. After Support reviews the documents, it turns off MFA on the account (Scaleway). Scaleway doesn't say how long a review takes.

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

On the Account Security page, in Authentication methods, click Delete, type DELETE and click Delete TOTP (Scaleway). If your Organization enforces MFA, a Member who does this has to turn it back on before the grace period ends or the account gets locked.

Official Scaleway help

• Use Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
• Log in to the console
• I cannot log in to my account
• Recover a lost password
• How to enforce Multifactor Authentication for an Organization
• How to comply with security requirements as a Member
• How to enforce security requirements for IAM members in your Organization