Squarespace 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

One Squarespace login can reach your websites, the domains you bought there and, if you sell, your Squarespace Payments money. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional for signing in, but the money features depend on it. You must turn it on before you link a bank account to Squarespace Balance or transfer funds out of it (Squarespace), and changing the bank account that receives Payments payouts takes a 2FA check too (Squarespace).

You can choose a passkey, an authentication app or text messages, and text codes only reach numbers in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK and the US (Squarespace). Squarespace suggests turning on just one, since a second method adds no security. The steps below set up the app method with Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, though any authenticator app works the same way.

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

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Squarespace describes these steps (Squarespace):

1. In your account dashboard, click Account Settings, then Security, and open the Two-factor authentication panel (account.squarespace.com/settings/security/two-factor).
2. Next to Authentication App, click Set Up, and log in again when asked.
3. A QR code appears. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it.
4. Can't scan it? Click Can't Scan QR Code to see the key as text. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Click Next, type the 6-digit code from Novaz, and click Confirm.
6. Your backup codes appear on screen. Save them before you leave the page.

Setting up in the Squarespace app on the same iPhone? Squarespace's steps there are Can't scan QR code?, then Copy. Paste the key into Setup key in Novaz, or use a screenshot with Choose a photo (scanning a QR code on the same iPhone).

Squarespace describes 30-second, time-based codes (Squarespace), the kind Novaz makes from a typed key, so scanning and typing should both work.

Contributors to your site set up 2FA in their own accounts. An owner can't do it for them (Squarespace).

Keep the backup codes

You get a set of eight backup codes, each good for one login, shown only once after setup. Download codes saves them as a .txt file you can print (Squarespace). Keep them even if you back up Novaz: without iCloud backup or a backup file, each key lives only on your iPhone, and an older backup may not include Squarespace. Store the codes somewhere other than that phone. More in 2FA backup codes.

To use one, enter your email and password at squarespace.com/login, then choose Use a different method and Backup code. If a code fails, type it instead of pasting it, or try another. When you run low, click Generate new codes next to Backup codes in the 2FA panel. That cancels the old set.

When Squarespace asks for a code

• Every login, unless you select Remember this computer for 30 days.
• The Squarespace app, after you log in. If it won't accept your login, update the app (Squarespace).
• Major changes, such as a new password or transferring ownership. With 2FA on, this check uses your 2FA method instead of an emailed code (Squarespace).
• Squarespace Balance: activating the digital card, showing its numbers, and transfers (Squarespace).

Tools that can't ask for a code, such as the Developer Platform, need an app password instead: App Passwords, then Generate Password, in the Security panel (Squarespace).

If Squarespace rejects your code

Code is incorrect means the code was wrong or had expired. Squarespace says to check your typing, try a fresh code, and make sure your phone sets its time automatically (Squarespace). On iPhone, that's Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. If codes still fail, use a backup code (or contact Squarespace, if this happens during setup). More causes in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones or turning 2FA off

To turn the app method off, click Turn off next to it in the 2FA panel, log in, and click Turn off again. Your backup codes stop working (Squarespace).

For a new phone, Squarespace's answer is to turn 2FA off briefly, then click Set Up next to Authentication App and scan the QR code with the new phone (Squarespace). Do it while the old phone still works, save the new backup codes, then tap Remove account on the old entry in Novaz. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip this and restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead; the Squarespace codes stay the same. More in How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Start with a backup code. If you're still logged in on another device, such as a computer, Squarespace suggests turning 2FA off there and setting it up again on the new phone (Squarespace). Otherwise, contact Squarespace support.

Squarespace's page on proving ownership covers restoring account access, though not 2FA by name. Support may ask for a government photo ID, business documents, billing details such as your card's last four digits, or your Account ID, and may send a Plaid link that matches your ID to a selfie video (Squarespace). Squarespace gives no time frame for a review. Write down your Account ID now, from Account Settings > Security (Squarespace). See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Squarespace help

• Protect your account with two-factor authentication
• Troubleshooting two-factor authentication
• Reauthenticate your account
• Verify ownership of your Squarespace account
• Access your account dashboard
• View or transfer funds in my Squarespace Balance account
• Squarespace Balance business spending card
• Connect a bank account to receive Squarespace Payments payouts