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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

TeamViewer 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. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  2. Your recovery code
  3. Signing in with a code
  4. "2FA for connections" is something else
  5. If TeamViewer rejects your code
  6. Turning 2FA off
  7. Changing phones
  8. If you lose your authenticator
  9. Official TeamViewer help

Your TeamViewer account is the one you sign in to in TeamViewer Remote, TeamViewer (Classic), the web app at web.teamviewer.com and the TeamViewer Remote Control app. Without two-factor authentication (2FA), TeamViewer checks new devices by email: you click a link to trust each one. With 2FA on, a code from an authenticator app replaces that email (TeamViewer).

TeamViewer accepts any app that makes time-based (TOTP) codes (TeamViewer). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. 2FA is optional unless your company's administrator enforces it, which Premium, Corporate and Tensor plans allow (TeamViewer).

How we checked this guide: the TeamViewer steps come from TeamViewer's own knowledge base, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a TeamViewer 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

These are TeamViewer's steps for TeamViewer Remote or web.teamviewer.com (TeamViewer):

  1. Sign in, then click Settings.
  2. Click Go to your profile's settings.
  3. On the Authentication tab, click the circle next to Two-factor authentication for sign-in.
  4. TeamViewer shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. Then click Continue.
  5. Save the recovery code: download it, print it or copy it. Click Continue.
  6. Type the code from Novaz and click Activate.

TeamViewer then signs you out, and you sign back in with a code.

The Classic Management Console has the same flow under Edit profile > Security > Activate two-factor authentication.

TeamViewer's pages only describe a QR code, not a key to type. If the QR code is on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot, tap + in Novaz, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.

If your company requires it

When an administrator enforces 2FA, you get an email. Its SET UP TWO-FACTOR-AUTHENTICATION button takes you to sign in. After you sign in, choose Take me to 2FA, scan the QR code, save the recovery code and enter a code to finish with Activate (TeamViewer).

Your recovery code

You get one recovery code, 16 characters long (TeamViewer). It turns off 2FA when you can't get a code, and setup won't go on until you've saved it. TeamViewer suggests printing more than one copy and never emailing it unencrypted (TeamViewer). Keep it even if you back up Novaz: it's your way back in if the phone is gone and you have no iCloud backup or backup file, or yours is older than your TeamViewer entry. Keep it somewhere other than that phone. See also 2FA backup codes.

Not sure you saved it? In TeamViewer Remote, go to Settings > Profile > Authentication > View recovery code. You'll need a current code from Novaz to see it (TeamViewer). You get a new recovery code each time you turn 2FA off and on again (TeamViewer).

Don't mix it up with the 64-character code from Zero Knowledge Account Recovery. That optional feature protects password resets, not 2FA (TeamViewer).

Signing in with a code

In every TeamViewer app, the code comes after your email address and password (TeamViewer). On login.teamviewer.com, the button is Submit Code. You no longer need trusted-device emails on new devices (TeamViewer).

"2FA for connections" is something else

Two-factor authentication for connections protects a computer, not your account. Each incoming connection must be approved by a push notification in the TeamViewer Remote Control app (TeamViewer). Novaz can't do push approvals.

If TeamViewer rejects your code

TeamViewer's first suspect is the clock on your phone. On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz shows a warning when the iPhone's clock drifts 15 seconds or more. If codes still fail, TeamViewer suggests turning 2FA off with your recovery code and setting it up again (TeamViewer). For other fixes, see Authenticator code not working?

Turning 2FA off

In TeamViewer Remote, go to Settings > Go to your profile's settings > Authentication. Click the circle next to Authentication via trusted devices, then Got it. Enter a code and click Deactivate. In the Classic Management Console, it's Edit profile > Security > Deactivate two-factor authentication (TeamViewer). Trusted devices then protect your sign-ins again.

Changing phones

TeamViewer doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. While the old iPhone still works, turn 2FA off as above, then turn it on again with the new phone and save the new recovery code. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can skip this and restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead, keeping the same codes. Without one, TeamViewer gets set up fresh on the new phone. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Go to TeamViewer's deactivation page. Enter your email address, password and recovery code, then click Deactivate (TeamViewer). You can sign in again and set up 2FA on your new phone.

Without the recovery code, you're stuck. TeamViewer's page is blunt: "TeamViewer cannot deactivate the two-factor authentication" (TeamViewer). You lose every TeamViewer feature that needs your account. The one exception is a company account where an administrator enforces 2FA. The administrator can reset it in the Classic Management Console under User management: select your account, click the wrench icon, then Deactivate 2FA. You set up 2FA again at your next sign-in (TeamViewer).

See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official TeamViewer help

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