Zoom 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Zoom's name for 2FA is two-step verification, and it covers only one kind of sign-in: the work email login type, an email address plus a Zoom password (Zoom). If you sign in with Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft or your company's single sign-on, that provider handles authentication instead (Zoom).
The second step can be an authenticator app, a text or a call, and admins on paid plans can make it mandatory. Zoom accepts any app that makes time-based codes (TOTP); its suggestions even include Apple's Passwords app (Zoom). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but other authenticator apps work the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Zoom steps come from Zoom's own support articles, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Zoom account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Free accounts may not have it
Turning two-step verification on for a whole account needs an owner or admin on a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise plan (Zoom), and Zoom's article on emailed sign-in codes offers 2FA as a choice for paid accounts only (Zoom). The steps for your own Profile page name no plan, so it's unclear whether free Basic accounts can turn it on. If you don't see Two-Step Verification there, that may be why.
Turn on two-step verification with an authenticator app
Zoom's support article, updated October 19, 2026, gives these steps for the web portal (Zoom):
- Sign in at zoom.us. Click your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner, then Profile.
- Under Sign In, check Two-Step Verification. If it says Off, click Turn On, enter your password and click Next.
- Next to Authentication App, click Set Up. Enter your password, then click Next.
- Zoom shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and aim the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo (how that works).
- Click Next, type the 6-digit code from Novaz, and click Verify.
- Zoom lists your recovery codes. Click Download or Print, then Done.
Zoom mentions only the QR code, not a key to type or how often codes change, so scan it. If you're offered a key, tap +, then Enter key manually, and enter it as the Setup key (about setup keys).
If your admin has made it mandatory, Zoom asks you to set it up at your next web portal sign-in. Choose Authentication App rather than SMS.
Labels vary: the admin settings say Authenticator app, and Zoom's security settings article calls the feature "two-factor authentication" (Zoom).
Keep the recovery codes
Each recovery code works once. To use one, sign in with your password, click Try another way at the bottom of the page, choose Recovery codes, enter a code and click Verify. To see them again, click View Codes next to Recovery Codes on your Profile page (Zoom).
If that phone is gone and you have no Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), these codes are your way in. Store them on paper or in a password manager, not as a screenshot on the same phone. See 2FA backup codes.
You can also add a number under Phone on the Profile page as a second route, though text codes are easier to steal (why).
When Zoom asks for the code
The code comes after your password when you sign in to the web portal, the desktop app, the mobile app or a Zoom Room. Zoom's article doesn't mention trusting a device to skip the code (Zoom).
If Zoom rejects your code
During setup, Zoom's one tip is to click Back and scan the QR code again. Its pages don't cover codes rejected at sign-in. Check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes in Authenticator code not working?
Moving to a new iPhone
Once an app is set up, your Profile page shows Change Device next to Authentication App. It reruns the setup so the new phone can scan a fresh QR code (Zoom). Do it while the old phone still works, since you need a code to sign in. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can instead restore your accounts on the new iPhone, and the codes keep working without Change Device. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Zoom documents three ways back in (Zoom):
- A recovery code. Afterwards, use Change Device to set up your new phone.
- A phone number, if you added one. At sign-in, choose Send code via SMS or Send code via phone call.
- Your admin, if an organization manages your account. Admins use Reset two-step verification under Admin Center > Security and trust > General, and you set it up again at your next sign-in.
Zoom's help doesn't cover having none of these, for example on a personal account. Its self-service account recovery is for forgotten email addresses and passwords and doesn't mention two-step verification (Zoom). That leaves Zoom Support, with no stated proof or timing. See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Turning it off
On your Profile page, click Turn Off next to Two-Step Verification, enter your password, and click Turn off if asked to confirm. To drop only the app, click Remove Device next to Authentication App (Zoom). Then open Zoom in Novaz and tap Remove account.
