Whois.com 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Whois.com is a domain registrar and web host, and its Control Panel is where you manage domains, DNS, hosting and billing. Its optional 2-Step Verification setting is described in two different ways, depending on your account:

• Reseller accounts: Whois.com's guide for resellers sets up 2-Step Verification with an authenticator app. You scan a QR code and get backup codes (Whois.com).
• Customer accounts: the customer version of the same guide verifies your email, then your phone number, and sends codes to your phone. It doesn't mention an authenticator app (Whois.com). If your panel offers only phone codes, you can't use an app.

This guide covers the authenticator app route. We use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone in the steps. Whois.com's page names Google Authenticator, but codes from any authenticator app work the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Whois.com steps come from Whois.com's own knowledge base, linked below. Its pages block automated access, so on October 21, 2026 we read archived copies on web.archive.org, captured between July and October 2025. We haven't tested them on a Whois.com 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 the steps from Whois.com's reseller guide (Whois.com):

1. Log in to your Control Panel.
2. Click the Profile icon, then Account & Security.
3. Click the toggle next to 2-Step Verification. A pop-up opens.
4. Click Start Setup, then Send verification email. Whois.com emails a code to your registered address.
5. Type that code in the Confirmation Code field.
6. Whois.com then shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
7. If you can't scan it, Whois.com also shows a key, which its guide calls a "passkey". Despite the name, it's an ordinary setup key. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
8. Whois.com shows a list of backup codes. Download them and keep them somewhere safe.

When it's done, the toggle next to 2-Step Verification turns green.

The guide doesn't say how many digits the codes have or how often they change. Scanning the QR code is the safer choice, because the code carries those settings to your app. A key typed by hand in Novaz always gets 6-digit codes every 30 seconds.

An older version of the same guide, archived in 2022, listed Google Authenticator and SMS as two separate options and used other labels, such as Proceed and Done (Whois.com). The 2025 version mentions only the app.

Save the backup codes

Whois.com strongly recommends downloading the backup codes (Whois.com). The 2022 version of the guide explained that each one works once, for when you can't use the app. If your phone is lost and you have no Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file) to restore, these codes are how you get in. Store them in a password manager or on paper, away from the phone. More in 2FA backup codes.

When Whois.com asks for a code

Once it's on, you need a code along with your username and password when you log in to the Control Panel or the Supersite, the storefront where purchases happen (Whois.com). Changes to your email address or phone number are also checked with a code sent to the old address or number.

If Whois.com rejects your code

Whois.com's help doesn't cover rejected codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when your clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

Whois.com doesn't describe moving 2-Step Verification to a new phone. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone. Without one, while you can still log in, turn it off and set it up again on the new phone (see below). See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

Use one of your backup codes to log in. Without them, Whois.com's FAQ says to contact its support team through its contact page to get back into your account (Whois.com). It doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long it takes.

If your account sits under a reseller, that reseller can turn off 2-Step Verification for you from its own Control Panel, and Whois.com emails you when it does (Whois.com).

More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

On the Account & Security page, click the toggle next to 2-Step Verification, then Continue. Enter the code Whois.com asks for and click Disable 2-Step Verification, then Okay (Whois.com). The guide says the code goes to your phone, so with an app the screen may ask for a Novaz code instead.

Official Whois.com help

• How do I enable 2-Step Verification for my account? (reseller guide)
• How do I enable 2-Step Verification? (customer guide)
• FAQs (2-Step Verification FAQ, reseller guide)
• How do I disable 2-Step Verification?
• How do I disable 2-Step Verification for my Customer / Sub-Reseller?
• Contact us