Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Lost authentacator app, no codes, just recovery key how to unlock acct

more options

I have a phone that the authentication app went away. The account can not be logged in and other way of login does not show. I have a recovery key but that's all. Login process does not ask for recovery key. how to use?

I have a phone that the authentication app went away. The account can not be logged in and other way of login does not show. I have a recovery key but that's all. Login process does not ask for recovery key. how to use?

All Replies (8)

more options

authentication app - How is that related to Mozilla / Firefox?

If that is about a Firefox Account see if this support article helps you? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/access-mozilla-services-firefox-account

more options

The Firefox Accounts system offers two different recover codes that people often get confused.

There is the long 32 digit recovery key that you can get from the Firefox Accounts settings. That key is the one that you use to recover your account if you forget your password.

There are also 8 recovery codes that are provided to you when you setup two-factor authentication on your account. They are each 10 digits in length and each one is single-use. You need to use one of these codes to unlock your account, if you've lost your two-factor authentication access.

See What if I'm locked out of Two-Step Authentication?

The documentation above is a little out of date. When you get to the two-factor authentication screen, you can click the Trouble entering code? link in the bottom-right of the login window. That will bring you to the place where you can enter one of the 10 digit recovery codes.

Hope this helps.

more options

If you do not have a recovery code then you are likely out of luck and you will have to create a new account with a different email address. The recovery key can be used to bypass a forgotten password, but you still need a valid 2FA code or recovery code to access the account.

more options

I don't have any 10 digit codes. What I want is to get over this problem with out going back and fourth. When I login to Firefox sync it says enter the code from the Authenticator app. Well I went to my phone and guess what. the app is gone. SO, How do I either delete the account or use the 32 digit recovery code. That's what it is, right, a recovery code? So, how do I use it. The system should have a link to go to, to add a Authentication APP bar code so I can re-add the account to the app. So, what do you do when your Authenticator app is gone? All the other system like Google, Amazon, PayPal all have security questions option if something fails. So, if you are going to use 2 step authentication you need the whole package. I don't have a password problem it's a Authenticator problem, that's what it has to do with Mozilla. Just once I would like some help where the reply person has actually read the question and not assumed they know what I'm asking. Thank You for the reply.

more options

By the way, it would save us a lot of time if the email included a link to this conversation.

more options

Mozilla is not responsible for your authentication app. If something has happened on that end, that's out of Mozilla's control.

If you failed to copy your two-factor authentication recovery codes, the account cannot be recovered. The code that you have is only useful if you forget your password, which isn't the case here.

The two-factor authentication cannot be removed unless you have the necessary recovery codes. That is why the codes are provided to you when you setup two-factor authentication on your account.

The only other thing that you may be able to do, is that you may be able to remove the two-factor authentication if you are already signed into the account on another device already.

Other than that, you are unfortunately out of luck. Sorry.

more options

Two (multi) factor authentication is an important security feature that can't be bypassed like is possible for a forgotten password. If it was possible to bypass it then you wouldn't need recovery codes. I doubt that other websites that use 2FA or MFA would allow to bypass this feature as most offer a list of recovery codes that need to be used instead. I don't know whether they will allow to reuse the email for another account after contacting an administrator.

more options

You could also try reinstalling the authentication app on your phone. Most of the major authentication apps offer cloud backup of your accounts and some even just have that information stored on your device, even when it's uninstalled.

Worth a shot, even if it doesn't recover anything.