Tello 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for My Tello

Tello is a prepaid mobile carrier in the US, and your My Tello account is where you manage your service and payments online. Someone who gets into it could cause real trouble with your phone service, so it's worth protecting. Tello's two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional. Once it's on, you sign in with your password plus a one-time code from an authenticator app (Tello, archived). Tello's help describes no other second step: no text-message codes and no backup codes.

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Novaz works like any other authenticator app here, because Tello uses standard time-based codes (TOTP) (Tello, archived).

How we checked this guide: the Tello steps come from Tello's own Help Center, linked below. Tello's website blocks automated readers, so on October 21, 2026 we read archived copies of its help pages saved on web.archive.org between December 2025 and July 2026. We haven't tested them on a Tello account, and a label may have changed since. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Your carrier account and your phone are linked

Keep in mind that Tello is probably also the carrier of the iPhone that holds your codes. If that phone is lost or stolen, you lose your line and your authenticator at the same time. Tello's Help Center lists a separate article on blocking the number of a lost or stolen phone (Tello, archived). Read the section on losing your authenticator below before you turn 2FA on.

The Security PIN in the same part of Tello's Help Center is a different thing from 2FA. It has its own articles there.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Tello's setup article gives these steps (Tello, archived):

1. Log in to your Tello account at tello.com.
2. From the main menu, go to My Information.
3. Tello's article goes straight from My Information to the QR code. It doesn't name the button that starts setup, so look on that page for the two-factor authentication option.
4. Tello shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If you're on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. Tello also gives a setup key you can type in. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste it into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Click Continue.
7. Type the code Novaz shows into the Tello website to finish.

Tello doesn't say how many digits its codes have or how often they change. Scan the QR code if you can, since it carries those settings to Novaz. A key typed by hand always makes 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds.

When Tello asks for a code

Tello says you'll need a new code from your app each time you log in (Tello, archived). Its help doesn't mention trusted devices or a "remember me" option.

No backup codes in Tello's help

None of Tello's 2FA articles mention backup or recovery codes, a second method, or how to turn 2FA off. If Tello shows recovery codes during setup, save them somewhere away from your phone. If it doesn't, Novaz is your only way to make codes, and unless you've turned on iCloud backup or exported a backup file, its keys exist only on your iPhone.

If Tello rejects your code

Tello's help doesn't cover rejected codes. Most of the time the cause is the iPhone's clock. Open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. For other causes, see Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Tello doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone and keep the same codes. Without one, you'll set Tello up again on the new phone. Do it while the old phone still works, so you can still log in. If you can't find a way to reset 2FA under My Information, ask Tello Support first. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Tello's help has no recovery steps for a lost authenticator. That leaves Tello Support. Tello says its support runs 24/7, that email and chat are the fastest ways in, and that email replies take under an hour on average (Tello, archived). Tello doesn't say what proof it asks for to remove 2FA, or how long that takes. Have your Tello account details and phone number ready.

If the lost phone was also your Tello phone, block the number first, then deal with the login. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Tello help

All read in archived copies on web.archive.org:

• How do I set up and use two-factor authentication? (December 17, 2025)
• What is two-factor authentication? (January 17, 2026)
• What third-party applications for two-factor authentication do you support? (December 17, 2025)
• How can I contact Customer Support? (March 19, 2025)
• Account Security, Help Center section (July 15, 2026)