How to use a 2FA authenticator app with your Facebook account

ByCraig Haley

We discuss how to use third party authenticator apps to add an important layer of security to your Facebook account and why it’s better than using SMS two-step verification. And, of course, we explain what all of that means.

These days, relying on merely a password to access those all-important online accounts is simply not enough. Crooks are becoming increasingly adept at obtaining account passwords, be it through data breaches, software vulnerabilities, malware, clever phishing scams or other types of social engineering attacks.

That’s why we always recommend, if possible, introducing another level of security to your account, meaning you’ll need something other than your password to login from a new device. This is called two-step verification (2SV) or two-factor authentication (2FA) (we’ll discuss the difference between the two at a later date, but both essentially mean you need something other than your password to login.)


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Facebook supports a number of different 2SV and 2FA methods. Perhaps most popularly, they support SMS-based 2SV, meaning you can get a text message sent to your phone when you login from a new device, which you need to enter as well as your password. However, SMS-based 2SV isn’t perfect as crooks have devised ways to intercept these SMS messages, and after a number of privacy gaffes by Facebook, we no longer recommend giving them your phone number if you can help it.

This leads us to the more secure and surprisingly easy Authenticator app, which provides another way of obtaining a login code without it being sent to your phone through SMS (and without needing to give Facebook your phone number!) All you need to do is install the app on your phone and link it to your Facebook account. That’s it! And each time you are requested for a code when you login to Facebook from a new device, you just open the app, get the code and enter it into Facebook. Easy!


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Facebook supports a number of third party Authenticator apps, but we’ll explain exactly how to setup specifically Google Authenticator below. However the differences are only small between different apps.
 
1. Install the app on your phone or tablet. The first step is to get the Google Authenticator App for your device and install it. You can get the app for an Android device through this link. And you can get the app for iOS through this link.

2. The next step is to link it to your Facebook account. It’s easier to use a separate PC, laptop or tablet for this part so you can use the scanning feature. Just login to your Facebook account, head to your Settings and select Security and Login. Then select the Use Two-Factor Authentication option. If you have nothing setup yet, select Get Started and then Authentication App. If you have something set up already, you need to select Setup next to Authentication App. Facebook should then produce a barcode.

3. Scan the barcode. On the phone or tablet where you installed Google Authenticator, open the app up and select the barcode option. Then simply hold the phone or tablet up to the screen on your PC, laptop or tablet and scan the barcode Facebook produced in the last step. If you’re using the same device on which you installed the Authenticator App, you need to enter the key next to the barcode instead.

4. You’ve now linked your Facebook account and Google Authenticator. Now, each time you login to a new device, Facebook will ask you for a login code once you’ve entered your password. To get that code, just open Google Authenticator (or whatever app you chose) and type in the code it shows you. Remember though, each code is only valid for around 30 seconds, so make sure you enter it before it expires.

This, of course, is a great way to keep your account secure. If, for whatever reason, you get your account password compromised, the crook won’t be able to access your account since they will lack the login code that can only be generated by the app on your phone or tablet.

And apps like Google Authenticator can also be used with other services too. For example, you can use the same app to enable two-step verification with your GMail account too.