Two-step sign-in with an authenticator app

With two-step sign-in, signing in with your password also needs a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone, so a stolen password isn't enough to get in. Anyone with a password can turn it on for themselves, and the owner can make it a must for managers and anyone with sensitive access.

#Turning on two-step sign-in

Do this on your own phone or computer, not on a shared salon device.

1. Open Settings → My account and choose Turn on two-step sign-in.
2. Enter your password and choose Continue.
3. On your phone, open an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator or your password manager all work), add an account and scan the QR code. Can't scan it? Choose "enter a setup key" in the app and type the key shown, or use Copy key.
4. Enter the 6-digit code the app shows and choose Turn on.
5. Save your recovery codes somewhere safe with Download, Print or Copy, tick I've saved my recovery codes and choose Done.

Turning it on signs you out everywhere else. The app shows the account under your salon's name, with your email.

#Signing in with a code

Signing in with a passkey never asks for a code: your phone or computer checks it's you, which counts as two-step sign-in.

After your email and password, FullColumn asks for the code: open your authenticator app and type the 6-digit code it shows for your salon. It signs you in as soon as the sixth digit is in.

If the code is refused, check that your phone's clock is set automatically and use the newest code. Each code works once. After several wrong codes, it asks you to wait 15 minutes, and after too many in a day, to try again tomorrow.

Trust this browser for 30 days skips the code on that browser until then. Don't tick it on a computer other people use. It isn't offered on a shared salon device, which always asks.

#Recovery codes

When you turn on two-step sign-in you get 10 recovery codes, shown once only. Each one signs you in once if you can't get a code from your phone: choose Use a recovery code on the code screen and type one in.

• Keep them somewhere safe, away from your phone: Download, Print or Copy them, or save them in your password manager.
• After you sign in with one, FullColumn tells you how many you have left.
• Settings → My account shows how many are left, and warns you when you're down to 3.
• New recovery codes (in Settings → My account) gives you 10 fresh ones, after your password and a code. The old ones stop working.

#Moving two-step sign-in to a new phone

1. In Settings → My account, choose Move to a new phone.
2. Enter your password and a code from your current phone (or a recovery code), and choose Continue.
3. Scan the new QR code with the new phone's authenticator app, enter its code and choose Switch.

Codes from the old phone stop working, and you get new recovery codes. Lost the old phone already? Use a recovery code in step 2, or ask whoever manages your team to reset your two-step sign-in.

#Turning off two-step sign-in

In Settings → My account, choose Turn off, then enter your password and a code (or a recovery code). You'll only need your password to sign in, and your recovery codes and trusted browsers are forgotten. Turn off isn't there while your salon requires two-step sign-in for your access.

Forget trusted browsers (shown when you have some) makes every browser you trusted ask for a code again.

#Requiring two-step sign-in for your team

The owner chooses who must use it, in Settings → Team & roster, on the Two-step sign-in card under the team list. Required for has three choices:

• Only an owner can change it, and only after turning it on for themselves first, so they aren't signed out.
• If people it applies to haven't set it up, FullColumn lists them and asks before requiring it. They're signed out (apart from PIN sign-ins on shared devices) and asked to set it up the next time they sign in with their password.
• The card lists anyone still to set it up. In the team list, people who use it show 2-step.

#Setting it up when your salon requires it

If your salon requires two-step sign-in for your access and you haven't set it up, signing in with your password goes to Set up two-step sign-in. You'll need your phone: scan the QR code, enter the code, save your recovery codes, and choose Continue to FullColumn. This can't be done on a shared salon device, so do it on your own phone or computer first.

#Lost phone: resetting someone's two-step sign-in

Someone who has lost their phone and their recovery codes can't sign in with a password until it's reset.

1. Someone with "Manage the team, permissions and PINs" opens the person in Settings → Team & roster.
2. Beside Two-step sign-in, they choose Reset, then Reset again to confirm.

The person is signed out everywhere, and their recovery codes, trusted browsers and passkeys stop working. Reset is there for someone with passkeys but no two-step sign-in too, to remove them. If it's required for them, they set it up on their new phone the next time they sign in; if not, they can turn it on again in My account. Only an owner can reset an owner's, nobody can reset someone who can do more than they can, and nobody resets their own: use Move to a new phone instead.

#Two-step sign-in on shared devices

PIN sign-ins on the salon's shared devices don't need a code. Unlocking full access on a Front desk device does, along with your password, if you use two-step sign-in. A password sign-in on a shared device always asks for the code. See shared devices, PINs and Front desk.

#Common questions

#Do I need two-step sign-in if I only use a PIN?

No. Two-step sign-in protects signing in with an email and password. If you only use a PIN on the salon's shared device, Settings → My account doesn't show it.

#I work at two salons. Is two-step sign-in shared between them?

No. Each salon has its own, so you set it up at each one and your authenticator app shows an entry for each salon.

#I got a new phone but still have the old one

Use Move to a new phone in Settings → My account, with a code from the old phone. Do it before you wipe or trade in the old phone.

#I've used most of my recovery codes

Choose New recovery codes in Settings → My account. You'll need your password and a code from your app.