How to enable 2FA on PS5, PS4 and PSN: 2-step verification setup

People search for a “PlayStation authenticator app”, but PlayStation’s guide doesn’t mention one of its own. Any standard authenticator works, and it makes the code on the phone itself, so a dead zone or a new SIM card doesn’t stop you signing in.

Texts are easier to set up but depend on your signal. When one doesn’t arrive, PlayStation says to select Resend Code and wait a few minutes, restart the phone, check airplane mode is off and check your signal.

You pick one method. To change it, deactivate 2SV and reactivate it with the other one, then save the fresh backup codes it shows you.

PlayStation documents three ways in: Account Management on the web, a PS5 and a PS4. Whichever you use, the setting lands on the account and applies on every console.

One small mismatch on PS5: the 2SV guide gives Settings > Users and Accounts > Security, while PlayStation’s security settings guide puts Account in between (Users and Accounts > Account > Security). If Security isn’t on the first screen, open Account.

The PlayStation App isn’t on PlayStation’s list of places to set up 2SV, though it is one of the places you can sign in with a passkey. If your phone is all you have, open Account Management in the phone’s browser and follow the web steps.

Each of the 10 codes works once and stands in for the app or text code. If you never wrote them down, they are under Security > Backup Codes in Account Management, readable only while you can sign in.

Running low? Turn 2SV off and back on to get a new set. Here is where each device asks for one:

With backup codes, sign in with one, then deactivate 2SV and set it up again on the new phone. That is PlayStation’s own order of steps.

With a passkey, another device that shares the same passkey or password manager, such as an iPad on the same Apple Account, can still sign you in. Can’t Sign In with Passkey on the sign-in screen offers email or a QR code instead.

With neither, contact PlayStation through the Online Assistant. Do the same if 2SV messages arrive that you didn’t ask for and you can’t change your sign-in method: someone is trying to get in.

If a console went missing too, PlayStation says to sign out of PlayStation on all devices, deactivate your consoles and consider removing payment methods.

PlayStation now promotes passkeys at the top of its 2SV pages. A passkey replaces your password with your device’s own unlock, like a fingerprint, face scan or screen lock PIN.

In a browser, go to Security in Account Management, turn on Sign in with Passkey and select Create a Passkey. On PS5, open Settings > Users & Accounts > Account > Security > Sign in with Passkey and scan the QR code with your phone. PlayStation says most phones on iOS 16 or Android 9 and later support passkeys, and you can switch back to a password from the same Security page.

PlayStation’s security best practices page names the tricks it sees. Each one ends with someone else holding your sign-in details.

PlayStation itself suggests a different password for every account and a password manager to keep track of them. In LoginScout, a PlayStation card holds the login and notes, encrypted on your device. Worth keeping on it: