Studio Ninja 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Studio Ninja is the studio management app many photographers use for leads, contracts, invoices and bookings, so the account holds client details and money matters. Its two-factor authentication (2FA) works with an authenticator app, and the setup has a twist: alongside the app, Studio Ninja asks you to pick security questions. Those answers are how you reset 2FA yourself if you lose your phone (Studio Ninja).

For most accounts 2FA is optional. If you connect Studio Ninja to Xero, it isn't: Xero requires it, and you can't turn it off again while the connection stays in place (more below). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Studio Ninja steps come from Studio Ninja's own help center (the Ninja Academy), linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The main article was last updated on October 26, 2020, so the app's labels may have changed since. We haven't tested the steps on a Studio Ninja account. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Studio Ninja's help article describes a three-step pop-up (Studio Ninja):

1. In Studio Ninja, go to Settings > Account & Subscription.
2. Scroll down to Two-factor Authentication and switch the toggle on. A pop-up called Set up Two-factor Authentication opens.
3. Step 1 shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If you're doing this on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
4. If you'd rather type it, the same step shows a text key, which the article calls the secret code or key. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, enter "Studio Ninja" as the Service, and paste the key into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
5. Click Next. On Step 2, choose your security questions and answer them. Write the answers down somewhere other than your phone.
6. On Step 3, type the 6-digit code that Novaz shows for Studio Ninja.

The article's examples all use 6-digit codes, which match what Novaz makes from a typed key. It doesn't state the interval, so scanning the QR code is still the safer choice.

Studio Ninja also suggests adding the same QR code to a second device before you move on to Step 2, so you have a fallback. Without a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), the key lives only on your iPhone, so if you want that fallback, scan the code into a second authenticator app on another device at this point.

Security questions instead of backup codes

Studio Ninja's help doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. The security questions from Step 2 do that job. When you sign in and reach the 6-digit code screen, there's a reset link. To reset 2FA that way, you need to answer at least two of your three questions correctly (Studio Ninja).

Treat the answers like a password. Pick answers you'll still remember in two years, and store them in a password manager or on paper.

If Studio Ninja rejects your code

Studio Ninja's own explanation for a code that keeps failing is a device clock that's out of sync with real time, which makes every code look expired (Studio Ninja). On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Studio Ninja doesn't document a way to move 2FA to a new phone. On the Novaz side, iCloud backup or a backup file lets you restore your accounts on the new iPhone with the same codes. Without one, the documented route that ends with a fresh setup is the reset link and your security questions (below), so make sure you know your answers before you hand the old phone in. Without Xero, the Two-factor Authentication toggle is also worth a look while you still have the old phone, though the help article doesn't describe switching it off and on again. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

1. Sign in as usual. On the 6-digit code screen, click the reset link.
2. Answer at least two of your three security questions correctly. That resets 2FA, and you can then set it up again with a new phone.
3. If you can't remember the answers, contact Studio Ninja support through the chat icon at the bottom right, and they can reset 2FA for you (Studio Ninja).

The help article doesn't say what proof support asks for or how long a reset takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Xero and turning 2FA off

The help article doesn't give steps for turning 2FA off. The setting you turned on is the Two-factor Authentication toggle in Account & Subscription, so that's where to look. The one rule it spells out is for Xero users: once 2FA is set up, you won't be able to disable it "unless you disconnect from Xero" (Studio Ninja). Studio Ninja's Xero setup is covered in its Xero integration article.

Official Studio Ninja help

• How to set up two factor authentication (2FA) via an authenticator app
• Xero Integration