Create a set of recovery codes now, so you can get back into your account yourself if you lose your phone or passkey.
Overview
Recovery codes are a set of one-time codes that act as a back-up for your two-factor authentication (2FA). If you lose your phone, change devices or can no longer use your passkey, you can use one of your codes to remove 2FA from your account yourself, without waiting for an administrator to do it for you.
You create your codes while you can still sign in, so it's worth doing this soon after you set up 2FA. Each set contains 10 codes. Each code works once, and one set covers your whole account, whichever sign-in method you use.
VIDA shows your codes only once. If you don't save them when they appear, you can't see them again and will need to generate a new set.
Before You Begin
- A VIDA or Launchpad account that you can currently sign in to, with 2FA already set up. See First-Time Login to VIDA: Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) if you haven't done this yet.
- A safe place to keep your codes, such as a password manager or a printed copy kept somewhere secure. Please don't save them in an email or a shared document.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Part 1 — Generate and save your recovery codes
- Sign in to VIDA or Launchpad and open your Account settings.
- Go to the Two-factor authentication section and find Recovery codes. It shows how many codes you have left.
- Select Generate new codes.
- Your codes appear on screen. Copy them using the copy icon, and save them somewhere safe straight away.
- Select I've saved my recovery codes once you have stored them.
If you generate a new set later, your old codes stop working straight away. VIDA asks you to confirm before it replaces them.
Part 2 — Use a recovery code if you are locked out
- Go to the login page and enter your email address, then follow the secure sign-in link we email to you.
- When you are asked to verify your identity and you can't, select Can't sign in? and then Use a recovery code.
- Enter one of your saved recovery codes and confirm.
- You'll see a message saying that two-factor authentication has been removed. Select Back to sign in.
- Sign in again with your usual method. You'll be asked to set up 2FA again, using a passkey or an authenticator app.
The recovery code you used is spent and can't be used again. You're back in your account with a fresh 2FA setup. You can then generate a new set of recovery codes by following Part 1.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
No. A recovery code removes 2FA from your account. You then sign in with your usual method and set 2FA up again.
A few common reasons:
- The code has already been used. Each code works only once.
- You generated a new set since you saved these, which cancels the older codes.
- The code has a typing mistake. Copy and paste it if you can.
- The code belongs to a different account.
Wait a few minutes before trying again.
Contact your organisation's VIDA administrator or raise a support ticket. Your administrator will need to approve a reset of your 2FA, and we'll take care of it from there. Once you are back in, we recommend generating your recovery codes straight away.
Yes, as long as you can still sign in. Generate a new set from your Account settings, as in Part 1. The old set stops working as soon as you do.
Related Articles
Was this article helpful?
That’s Great!
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry! We couldn't be helpful
Thank you for your feedback
Feedback sent
We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article