2FA Authenticator Sync

2FA Authenticator Sync: a reader asks…

I followed your advice and installed the LastPass Authenticator for 2FA. I’ve got it backed up to my LastPass account and installed it on my iPhone 7 and my iPad (Air2). I recently added 2FA on my Amazon account and that added fine on my iPhone, but didn’t add to my iPad so they aren’t matched anymore. What should I do?

Very simply, delete the LastPass Authenticator from your iPad, make sure you have a recent backup of the Authenticator app on your iPhone, and then download the LastPass Authenticator app onto your iPad fresh.

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If you happened to have the Authenticator app open on both iPhone and iPad at the same time and made a change to the app on one or the other, the other version may go out of sync. You want to avoid backing up the out-of-date version, so the simplest solution is to delete the app from the out-of-sync device (your iPad), and then re-install it. That way it will load the most current backup from your LastPass backup.

But congratulations for using two-factor authentication (2FA for short), and for installing it on both devices. That way if you should lose your iPhone, you won’t be stuck without a device to authenticate your logins to websites and other online entities where you use 2FA. My advise is solid, you should use 2FA anywhere that you can, especially for your email account(s), your online banking, credit card and other financial institution accounts, and any online shopping sites where you use a credit card to make purchases.


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