UpCloud 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

UpCloud is a cloud hosting provider, and your UpCloud account is what you use to sign in to its control panel, where you run servers, storage, databases and billing. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional there. When it's on, the control panel asks for a one-time code from an authenticator app after your username and password (UpCloud). There are no backup codes. Instead, UpCloud can send a one-time code by text message or automated phone call to the number on your account. That makes the phone number the first thing to check. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the UpCloud steps come from UpCloud's own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on an UpCloud account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Before you start: check your phone number

UpCloud's setup page asks you to confirm that the phone number in your account details is correct before you switch 2FA on. If you ever lose your authenticator, that number is how you get back in (UpCloud). The same number is also asked for when you reset a forgotten password, together with your email address (UpCloud).

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

UpCloud's documentation describes these steps (UpCloud):

1. Sign in to the UpCloud control panel and open your Account overview.
2. Below the Password section, click the Two-factor authentication toggle to turn it on.
3. A Setup button appears next to it. Click it to open the 2FA configuration window.
4. The window shows a QR code and the shared secret key behind it. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If the control panel is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. To type the key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually in Novaz, and paste the key into Setup key. UpCloud describes it as a 16-character code, which is long enough for manual entry. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Type the 6-digit code Novaz shows into the configuration window and click Submit.

The window closes and a notice confirms that two-factor authentication is set up. UpCloud's codes are time-based and change every 30 seconds, which matches what Novaz makes from a typed key.

UpCloud also advises against running the authenticator on the same computer you use to sign in to the control panel, since the second factor should live on a separate device. An iPhone app fits that advice.

Team members and API access

If you use subaccounts for your team, 2FA isn't shared. Each person under the main account turns it on separately in their own account options, with the same steps (UpCloud).

Scripts and tools such as Terraform don't need the code. UpCloud's API tokens keep working when 2FA is on, and they let automation sign in without your password (UpCloud).

If UpCloud rejects your code

UpCloud's own advice is to check that the date and time on your phone are correct. On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. If that doesn't help, UpCloud suggests signing in with the text or phone backup and setting up the authenticator again from the start (UpCloud). More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

Without the app, you can still sign in with a one-time code sent to the phone number on your account (UpCloud):

1. Enter your username and password as usual.
2. In the Two-factor authentication window, click Submit once without a code. This reveals an I don't have a code button. Click it.
3. Choose to get the code by text message or by automated phone call.
4. Type the code you receive into the field below to sign in.

Once you're in, go to your account menu and set up the authenticator again. UpCloud's pages don't describe what to do if you've also lost the phone number, beyond pointing you to its 24/7 support team. Since text messages are weaker than an app, see authenticator app vs. SMS and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones

If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, restore it on the new iPhone and UpCloud keeps working. Without one, a new iPhone means adding UpCloud again. UpCloud doesn't describe a separate transfer step. The same reconfigure route it gives for a broken authenticator applies: sign in, open the 2FA setup and connect the new phone. Do it while the old phone still works, or use the text or phone backup. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

UpCloud's documentation doesn't say how to turn 2FA off.

Official UpCloud help

• 2FA - Two-factor authentication
• Account security
• How to create and use UpCloud API Tokens