---
key: turn-on-two-step-verification-in-the-portal
title: Turn on two-step verification
audience: customer
section: portal/account-security
routes: ["/portal/security"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Protect your portal account with a second sign-in step by setting up an authenticator app, verifying your phone for codes, creating backup codes, and choosing which method is asked first.
keywords: [two-factor, second step, authenticator, verification code, text code, backup codes, security]
related: [add-a-passkey-to-the-portal, see-where-you-are-signed-in, change-your-portal-password]
---

Select your name at the top right of the portal, then **How you sign in**. The page address ends in `/security`.

## Before you start

- The page may ask you to confirm it is you before a change is saved. **Confirm it’s you** asks for a code from a method you already have; select **Try another way** to pick a different one.
- **Extra sign-in step** at the top says whether the second step is on or off, and lists every method you have set up.

## Steps

Set up an authenticator app:

1. Under **Authenticator app**, select **Set up an app**.
2. Scan the code with your authenticator app. If you cannot scan it, open **Can’t scan it?** under the code to see the key and type it into your app instead, or select **Open in my authenticator app** on your phone.
3. Under **Then enter the 6-digit code it shows**, type the code from the app and select **Finish setup**.

Verify your phone for codes:

1. Under **Phone verification**, choose **Text message**, or **Phone call** when the company offers calls.
2. Select **Send a text message** or **Call me**. The number is the one the company has on file for you.
3. Type the code and select **Verify phone**. Select **Resend code** or **Call again** if it did not arrive.

Create backup codes (after your first authenticator app or passkey, this opens by itself):

1. Under **Backup codes**, select **Create backup codes**.
2. In **Save your backup codes**, select **Show backup codes**, then **Copy**, **Download** or **Print** them. Each code works once.
3. Select **I've saved them**.

Choose how it works:

1. Finishing an authenticator app, a verified phone or a passkey switches on **Require a second step when I sign in** under **Extra sign-in step** by itself. Use the switch to turn the step off, or back on later.
2. Under **Preferred code method**, keep **Authenticator app first (recommended)** or choose another method.

## What you see

- Each method is listed under **Extra sign-in step** with a **Remove** button; an authenticator app or passkey also has **Rename**. The emailed code follows the email the company has on file and cannot be removed here. **Not finished** marks a setup you did not complete.
- While the extra sign-in step is on, the next time you sign in on a new device, the portal asks for the code after your password. Turning it off allows ordinary sign-ins with your password; company requirements and unusual sign-ins may still need a check. See [[sign-in-to-the-portal]].

## If something looks different

- **Phone verification** says to ask your service provider to add a phone number: the company has no phone number on file for you.
- Switching the step off asks **Turn off the extra sign-in step?**: your methods stay saved and work again if you turn it back on. If the page says the company requires two-step sign-in, it cannot be turned off.
- Choosing **Phone call** as the preferred code method shows an error: calls cannot be the first method. Pick another one.
- **Replace my backup codes** replaces the old set: every earlier code stops working.
- You lost your phone: sign in with a backup code, then set up a new method here.