Set up two-step sign-in

With two-step sign-in, you type a six-digit code from your phone after your password. Someone who learns your password still cannot get in. The setup takes about a minute.

Before you start

Install an authenticator app on your phone: Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy or 1Password all work. Keep the phone with you while you set it up.

Steps

1. Open My account and press Set up two-step sign-in. The Scan step opens with a QR code.
2. In the authenticator app, tap "Add" (+) and scan the QR code. If you cannot scan, press Cannot scan? Type a key instead and type the key into the app.
3. Press I scanned it. The Confirm step opens.
4. Type the six-digit code the app shows for this account and press Turn on.
5. The Save codes step shows 10 recovery codes. Keep them with Download .txt, Copy or Print.
6. Tick I saved my recovery codes somewhere safe and press Done.

After you turn it on

• The message Two-step sign-in is on appears and the chip shows On.
• At every sign-in, after the password, the system asks for the current code from the app. On a computer you trust you can tick Remember this device for 30 days, and that browser skips the code for 30 days.
• Recovery codes in My account shows how many of the 10 codes are still unused.

If something goes wrong

• That code is not right. Check the time on your phone and try the newest code.: the codes change every 30 seconds and depend on the phone's clock. Set the phone's time to automatic and type the newest code.
• Too many wrong codes. Try again in 15 minutes.: after 5 wrong codes in a row, code checks stop for 15 minutes.
• Start the setup again: the setup waited too long. Close it, press Set up two-step sign-in again and scan the new QR code.
• Two-step sign-in is already on. Turn it off first to move it to a new phone.: see Recovery codes, a new phone and turning two-step off.