Amazon: 2-Step Verification and your authenticator key

Before you start

• Do this on the Amazon account you want your order placed on.
• The key is not your Amazon password, and not the 6-digit code. It is the long code Amazon shows once during setup.
• Anyone with the key can generate your codes, so treat it like a password. We keep it in the same restricted vault as cards, and only open it to run your checkouts. See our privacy policy.

Step by step

1. 1Step 1: Sign in to Amazon on a computer and open Login & security (Account → Login & security).
2. 2Step 2: Find 2-Step Verification (2SV) Settings and click Edit, then Get Started. If 2-Step Verification is already on, click Add new app instead.
3. 3Step 3: Choose Authenticator App. Don’t pick text message: a texted code can’t be used to check out for you.
4. 4Step 4: On the QR code screen, click Can’t scan the barcode? Amazon then shows a long code made of letters and numbers. That is the key we need. Copy it now — Amazon only shows it once.
5. 5Step 5: Add the same key to your own authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, or your password manager), so you keep access too.
6. 6Step 6: Type the 6-digit code your app shows into Amazon and finish the setup. The key isn’t active until you do.
7. 7Step 7: Paste the key into the 2FA Authenticator Key field on your Amazon entry. Spaces and capitals don’t matter.

• The key is only letters A–Z and the digits 2–7. There is no 0, 1 or 8 in it.
• Missed it? On the same page, remove the authenticator you just added and set it up again to get a new key.
• Keep text-message verification on as a backup if Amazon offers it. It doesn’t affect your entry.
• Changing the key later, or removing that authenticator, stops your entries working. Send us the new key if you do.