

Again, the phone number you link to Authy determines your account. Once you’ve installed and opened the program, the setup is essentially the same: input your phone number when prompted. You can also download Authy onto your Windows computer. Once you’ve received your code, type it in, and you’ve created your Authy account. Choose between a quick phone call or a text message-either is fine. To do this, Authy will send you a registration code and then prompt you to enter it into the app. Next, Authy needs to verify your account.

Search for your country code and enter your phone number. Make sure you have that cell phone handy for the authorization step. That way, you’ll always have the same tokens available whether you access Authy from your phone or your computer. You’ll use this same phone number when setting up Authy across all your devices. Here, you’ll be asked for your cell phone number. Once you’ve downloaded the Authy app, open it to get to the Set-Up screen. It’s available on iOS, Android, and Windows. There are a few of these apps out there, like LastPass and Google Authenticator, and Authy is another option offering easy setup and use. Using an authenticator app can make this process less painful: once set up, all you have to do is enter the token it generates. Until authenticator apps came into the picture, enabling 2FA meant that you had to enter your phone number into every app and website, which would then generate and send you a code to input.
