Changing phone without losing your two-factor codes
Your codes are generated from keys stored on the old phone. Before it is wiped, sold or traded in, those keys have to reach the new one. Here is the order to do it in.
Before you start
- Keep the old phone working until the very end. It is the only thing still producing your codes.
- Find each service’s recovery codes, the one-time codes it gave you when you turned on two-factor authentication. They are your way back in if something goes wrong.
- Allow ten minutes, and keep a charger nearby.
Moving your codes with Otter
Export a backup on the old phone
In Otter, open Settings, then Backup, and choose Export to a file. Pick a passphrase, or let Otter generate one, and write it down on paper before you go on.
Move the file
Save the backup somewhere the new phone can reach: a folder in your own cloud storage, a computer, a USB stick, or a message to yourself. The file is encrypted, so it is useless to anyone without the passphrase.
Install Otter on the new phone
iPhone or Android, it does not matter: the same file opens on both. Set up a PIN, and your fingerprint or your face if you like.
Import the backup
Open Settings, then Backup, choose Import from a file, pick the backup and enter the passphrase. Otter tells you how many accounts it holds before adding them.
Check a few codes
Sign in to two or three services with codes from the new phone. When they are accepted, the move has worked.
Only then, erase the old phone
Erase it from its own settings. Delete the copies of the backup you no longer need, and keep one somewhere safe for next time.
If you use another app
Most authenticators have their own way of doing this, through a cloud account or a transfer screen. Some have none at all: Authy and Microsoft Authenticator cannot export, so their accounts are moved by adding each one again from the service. The guide to moving to another authenticator explains how.
Mistakes to avoid
- Erasing or trading in the old phone before checking the codes on the new one.
- Keeping the passphrase next to the backup file: together, they are as good as no encryption at all.
- Counting on a phone backup or a phone to phone transfer to carry your codes. Many authenticators deliberately leave their keys out of it, and the day you need them is the wrong day to find out.
Try Otter
Free on iPhone and Android. No account to create and nothing to sync: install it, scan your first QR code, and the code is on your screen.