Stiftung Warentest 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for test.de

Your test.de account is where Stiftung Warentest keeps your purchased test results, your Stiftung Warentest Flatrate, saved filters and comparisons, and the subscription numbers that unlock digital issues in the Stiftung Warentest App (Stiftung Warentest, Stiftung Warentest). Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional. The only method the help pages describe is an authenticator app: after your password, you type a one-time code from the app (Stiftung Warentest).

The site and its help pages are in German, so this guide gives the German labels in bold with a translation. We use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone in the steps. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Stiftung Warentest steps come from the help and contact pages on test.de, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Stiftung Warentest account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

What the help pages say, and what they leave out

Stiftung Warentest documents its 2FA in one short section of its Mein Konto (My account) help page. It covers three things: a code is needed at every login, the setting lives under Persönliche Daten > Sicherheit & Login, and the Leserservice (reader service) turns 2FA off if you lose the app. It names Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator only as examples (Stiftung Warentest).

The help doesn't describe the setup screen itself, whether a text key is shown next to the QR code, or whether you get backup codes. The steps below follow what the help says and the usual way an authenticator setup works.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

1. Sign in at test.de with your username or email address and password. Open Mein Konto from the account menu at the top right (Stiftung Warentest).
2. Go to Persönliche Daten (personal details), then Sicherheit & Login (security and login).
3. Turn on two-factor authentication there. The help page calls it Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung (2FA).
4. When test.de shows a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If the page offers a key to type instead, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key? Scanning is the safer choice, because the help doesn't say how long or how often its codes change.
6. Type the code Novaz shows to confirm, if the page asks for one.

Careful in the Sicherheit & Login section: the link to delete your account is in the same place. Deleting the account also deletes a Stiftung Warentest Flatrate, so don't confirm it by accident (Stiftung Warentest).

Signing in afterwards

Stiftung Warentest asks for a fresh code every time you log in, right after your password (Stiftung Warentest). Its help doesn't mention a way to trust a device or skip the code. The Stiftung Warentest App also uses your test.de account to unlock issues, but the app's help page doesn't say whether the app asks for the code (Stiftung Warentest).

If test.de rejects your code

The help page's advice for any code problem is to contact the Leserservice. Before you write, check your iPhone's clock, the most common cause: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

No backup codes are documented, so don't count on any. The one route the help gives is to email the Leserservice and ask it to turn off your two-factor authentication (Stiftung Warentest). The address is test.de@stiftung-warentest.de. The Leserservice can't be reached by phone, and the contact page says it replies promptly by email (Stiftung Warentest).

The help doesn't say what proof the Leserservice needs for a 2FA reset or how long it takes. The contact page asks everyone who writes in to include their first and last name and postal address, plus a subscription number or Flatrate username, and to put the topic in the subject line (Stiftung Warentest). The Passwort oder Nutzername vergessen (forgot password or username) link only emails you your username and a link to set a new password; the help doesn't say it affects 2FA. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones

If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the test.de codes keep working. Without one, and with no documented backup codes, do the switch while the old phone still works: turn 2FA off under Sicherheit & Login, then turn it on again and scan the new QR code with Novaz on the new iPhone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Turning 2FA off

You can turn it on or off at any time under Persönliche Daten > Sicherheit & Login (Stiftung Warentest). If you can't sign in, the Leserservice does it for you. After that, open the Stiftung Warentest entry in Novaz and tap Remove account.

Official Stiftung Warentest help

• Hilfe: Mein Konto (section "Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung (2FA)")
• Kontakt: Ihre Nachricht an die Stiftung Warentest
• Hilfe: Stiftung Warentest App