How to set up two-factor authentication on Discord

Add an extra layer of security to your Discord account

Social media’s growth over the past few years has been transcendent. However, with more people coming online each year, account hijacking has become rampant over the past few years. It is critical to secure your account by adding an extra layer of security, and the best way to do it is by using two-factor authentication(2FA). Almost all social apps, like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Discord, have 2FA.

2FA adds an extra layer of security to your social media account by asking you to enter a tokenized six-digit code via an authenticator app or text message on your Android phone, iPhone, or PC. Discord supports both, but to authenticate via SMS, you’ll first need to set up 2FA via an authenticator app.

Let’s look at how to activate two-factor authentication on Discord.

Secure your Discord account with 2FA

Before jumping into the process, you’ll need an authenticator app. The good news is there are plenty of 2FA authenticator apps that you can try. If you own a Galaxy Watch 4, you’ll use Authenticator Pro because it’s the only authenticator app that’s available on Wear OS. Although, almost all apps work seamlessly.

Enable 2FA on Discord desktop and web

1. Open the Discord desktop app or go to discord.com/login and enter your credentials to log in.
2. In the second vertical tab, click the gear icon beside the Mute and Deafen options to open user settings.

3. In the My Account tab, scroll down and click Enable Two-Factor Auth.

4. Enter your Discord password and open the authenticator app on your phone.

5. Scan the QR code and enter the six-digit code to enable 2FA. Also, note down the key and store it in a secure space, as it’ll come in handy if you lose access to your account.

6. Click Enable SMS Authentication to enable 2FA on Discord via SMS.

It is recommended to have as many 2FA login ways as possible. If one of the login methods gives up on you, you’ll have other ways to log in.

Enable 2FA on the Discord mobile app

1. Install Discord.
2. Tap your profile in the lower tab, and go to Account.

3. Tap Enable Two-Factor Auth and enter your password.

4. On the Download an authenticator app page, tap Next.

5. Copy the code, open the authenticator app on your phone and paste it.
6. On Discord, tap Next, enter the six-digit code, and then tap Done.
7. On the next page, tap Enable SMS Authentication.

Enabling 2FA on Discord logs you out of all active Discord sessions across all devices. If you want to log out of all devices at once, you could enable 2FA to log out of all devices and disable it.

Password managers are great too!

Most people might agree that opening an app each time you log in could feel a bit tedious, and that’s where password managers come to the rescue. A password manager is used to manage your passwords and does it in a way that you’d never need to enter your passwords manually again. There are lots of great password managers to choose from, and they can be used to swiftly log in to your accounts once you start saving your passwords.

Not all great password managers have to be paid, though. Some free password managers like Bitwarden help you create strong passwords and come with cross-platform sync to sync your credentials across all your devices. The best part is that it’s open source and doesn’t use your phone’s internet connection. All passwords are stored locally and are encrypted. Besides auto-filling, there are other great reasons to use a password manager.