Sprout Social 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Sprout Social is the platform many marketing and support teams use to schedule posts, answer messages and report on their social profiles. If you sign in to it, you're already using a second step: since April 15, 2025, every Sprout user needs multifactor authentication. Unless your account is set up otherwise, that means a one-time code sent to your login email each time you sign in (Sprout Social). The alternatives are an authenticator app, which Sprout calls two-step verification, and company single sign-on (SSO). Here we set up the authenticator app with Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, though other authenticator apps follow the same steps.

How we checked this guide: the Sprout Social steps come from Sprout Social's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Sprout Social account, and the screenshots in Sprout's setup article date from 2019, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Which method you'll get

• Email codes are the default for everyone on the web and in the mobile app. The rule doesn't cover Sprout's Employee Advocacy or Influencer Marketing platforms (Sprout Social).
• An authenticator app is something any user can turn on for their own login. The Account Owner can also require it for every user. When that happens, everyone is signed out and has to set it up at their next sign-in (Sprout Social).
• SSO, if your company requires it, replaces Sprout's codes. Your identity provider handles sign-in and its own two-factor rules (Sprout Social).

If one email login belongs to several Sprout customer accounts and any of them requires the authenticator app, you'll use the app for all of them (Sprout Social).

Turn on two-step verification with an authenticator app

Sprout's setup article describes these steps (Sprout Social):

1. Sign in on the web and open the Security page in Settings. The direct address is app.sproutsocial.com/settings/security.
2. Under Two-Step Verification, turn on Enable two-step verification for your login, then click Submit.
3. Sprout suggests Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator, but its MFA page says any authenticator app of your choice will do (Sprout Social). Click Next, and Sprout shows a QR code.
4. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. 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.
5. If scanning doesn't work, click Or, you can manually enter a secret code to see the text key. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Click Next and type the 6-digit code that Novaz shows.
7. Sprout gives you 10 backup codes. Save them (next section), then click Done.

Sprout's screenshot of the Security page mentions six-digit codes but not how often they change. A scan carries those settings into Novaz, so prefer it over typing the key.

Store your 10 backup codes

Each backup code works once. Sprout's advice is to print them or write them down and store them somewhere private. You can make a new set on the Security page whenever you run low or lose them. The older screenshot labels this Get New Codes and notes that new codes cancel the previous ones (Sprout Social).

If you haven't made a Novaz backup, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are your fallback if that phone is gone. See 2FA backup codes.

Signing in afterwards

Sprout asks for a code every time you sign in, on the web and in the mobile app, right after your password. Type it under Verification Code and click Verify. Sprout's help doesn't mention a way to remember a trusted device.

If Sprout Social rejects your code

Sprout's help points to two causes (Sprout Social):

• The phone's clock. On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Sprout adds that if it's already on, you can switch it off, wait a few seconds, and switch it on again. If the clock drifts by 15 seconds or more, Novaz shows a warning.
• More than one Sprout entry. After a second setup, only the newest entry makes valid codes. Sprout's fix: delete every Sprout entry (in Novaz, open it and tap Remove account), then go to Settings > Security, click Set Up Device, scan the new QR code, and save the new backup codes. If no entry works, sign in with a backup code first.

More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Sign in, go to Settings > Security, click Set Up Device, scan the new QR code with the new phone, and save the fresh backup codes. If the old phone is already gone, choose Use one of your backup codes instead on the verification screen to get in first. That's Sprout's route. With Novaz, you can instead restore your accounts on the new iPhone from iCloud backup or a backup file, and the Sprout entry keeps making valid codes. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Sign in with a backup code, then set up your new phone as described above. If you have neither the app nor a backup code, contact Sprout Support, which can reset your two-step verification. Sprout says this involves extra security checks, but it doesn't list what proof it asks for or how long it takes (Sprout Social).

Live chat only works once you're signed in. When you're locked out, use the support request form or call 1-866-878-3231, Monday to Friday (Sprout Social). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning it off

Sprout's help doesn't describe switching two-step verification off. Without it, you'd be back on email codes, because Sprout requires multifactor authentication for every user and leaves exceptions to Support (Sprout Social).

Official Sprout Social help

• How do I set up two-step verification for my Sprout account?
• How to Secure Your Sprout Social Account with Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
• Security Best Practices
• Contacting Sprout Social Support