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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

ScreenConnect 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

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

On this page
  1. Cloud portal: add an authenticator app
  2. Technician accounts: your admin adds the key
  3. Signing in afterwards
  4. If ScreenConnect rejects your code
  5. No backup codes, so keep the key
  6. If you lose your authenticator
  7. Official ScreenConnect help

ConnectWise ScreenConnect is remote support software with two separate sign-ins, and each handles authenticator apps differently. On the ScreenConnect Cloud Portal at cloud.screenconnect.com, the cloud account administrator sets up the app themselves (ConnectWise). On a ScreenConnect instance, where technicians sign in, an administrator adds your key for you (ConnectWise).

On ScreenConnect Cloud, two-factor authentication is required for the portal's super-admin and for every internal user (one created inside ScreenConnect), with codes sent by email until you switch to an app (ConnectWise, ConnectWise). Technicians can also use YubiKey, LinOTP or Duo push (ConnectWise). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the ScreenConnect steps come from ConnectWise's own ScreenConnect documentation and release notes, including their screenshots, linked below, which we read on October 19, 2026. We haven't tested them on a ScreenConnect account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Cloud portal: add an authenticator app

These steps are from ConnectWise's cloud article, updated in October 2026 (ConnectWise):

  1. Sign in at cloud.screenconnect.com and open the Profile tab on the left.
  2. Under Login Credentials, select Configure TFA. ConnectWise emails an Approval Code to the contact address. It works for 20 minutes.
  3. In Configure Two-Factor Authentication, enter the Approval Code and choose Use an authentication app.
  4. A QR code appears. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  5. To type it instead, use the unlabeled key above the QR code, next to Regenerate. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and enter it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key? Either way, save the key in your password manager too.
  6. Type the code from Novaz into the field under the QR code and select Confirm.

Technician accounts: your admin adds the key

Here the QR code doesn't come from ScreenConnect at all. ConnectWise's documentation page generates it in your browser, along with a random 16-character key (ConnectWise).

  1. Open that end-user guide on a computer. It shows a QR code and, under Contact your administrator, the key. Regenerate makes a new pair.
  2. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, or type the key with Enter key manually.
  3. Send the key privately to your ScreenConnect administrator, and keep a copy in your password manager.
  4. Your admin opens Administration > Security, selects Edit next to your user, picks Google Authenticator under OTP Method, pastes the key into Enter OTP secret/key and selects Save User. Active Directory and LDAP users get the key in their Description field instead (ConnectWise).

Picking Google Authenticator doesn't tie you to Google's app: ConnectWise itself suggested it to Microsoft Authenticator users in version 25.9 (ConnectWise).

Both setups name the account just "screenconnect". If you have more than one, add each with Enter key manually and name it in Service and Account. The documentation page's QR code holds only the key, so typing it gives the same codes.

Signing in afterwards

  • Cloud portal: after your email address and password, enter the code in One-Time Password. Trust this device skips it for 7 days, in that browser only (ConnectWise).
  • Your instance: after your user name and password, enter the One-Time Password. Trust this device for 7 days skips it on that device, unless your administrator has turned the option off (ConnectWise).

If ScreenConnect rejects your code

If you have several "screenconnect" entries, check you're using the right one. Then check your iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.

Before version 26.6, editing an internal user could erase that user's key and break authenticator sign-in. The fix reached cloud on August 19, 2026 and on-premises on September 3 (ConnectWise). If your codes stopped working after an admin edited your account, ask them to add the key again. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

No backup codes, so keep the key

ConnectWise's pages don't describe backup codes for either sign-in. Instead, the company suggests keeping the key, or the QR code as an image, in a password manager, and setting up two-factor authentication again on a new device (ConnectWise). Novaz can also restore your accounts on a new iPhone from iCloud backup or a backup file. Without one, that saved key is your backup: on the new iPhone, add it with Enter key manually and the codes will match. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Without a saved key, the same ConnectWise page gives two routes:

  • Technician accounts: ask your ScreenConnect administrator to set it up again. They can give you a new key or switch your OTP Method to Email (ConnectWise).
  • Cloud account administrators: contact ConnectWise support to get back into the account. ConnectWise doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long it takes.

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official ScreenConnect help

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