2-Factor Authentication: Stronger than your password alone

After you enter your password, AOL sends a short, numeric sign-in code to your phone by either Text or Voice Call. You enter the code to complete signing in.

Important: During setup, you will get a one-time Disable code to use if phone access isn’t working (lost phone, out of batteries, or if you’re traveling, don’t have a signal, etc.).

Print, write down or save your Disable code and keep it somewhere safe. If the Disable code is lost, restoring account access via tech support can take up to 3-5 business days.

Here’s how:

1. Sign in at https://account.aol.com.

2. Under “2-Factor Authentication”, click Set up in the right-hand column.

3. On the screen that opens, enter the number where you’d like to receive sign-in codes by Text or Voice call.

4. Click Call me or Text me to get a code to verify your number.

5. Enter the verification code, then click Verify.

6. Your Disable code is displayed. Important: Print, copy and paste, or write down and save this code. This is what you’ll use in case you lose or can’t get to your phone. Keep it in a safe place you can easily get to later.

7. After you save your Disable code, click OK, I saved this.

8. Click Turn on. You activated 2-Factor Authentication! Nice work.

9. If you access your AOL account using any non-AOL apps or other programs (such as Mail on a mobile phone or in Outlook), complete the final step of creating application-specific passwords. It’s easy, and you don’t need to remember the passwords after you enter them in the app. This is how these apps connect to your AOL account, since apps will not send you codes.

If you have 2-Factor Authentication turned on and you DON’T have application passwords for your apps, you will receive an error that the apps can’t connect.

10. On the Application passwords page, choose an application from the drop-down menu and enter the device name. If you don’t see your app or device, no problem: just click Custom name and enter the app & device. Then click Create.

11. Open the app for which you created the password, and enter this password into the “Password” field for the app. That’s it!

Here’s how:

1. Go to http://account.aol.com. You may need to sign in or answer a security question to verify it’s you.

2. Under “2-Factor Authentication,” click Turn Off in the right-hand column.

If you don’t have your phone, you can use your Disable code to turn off 2-Factor Authentication. To do that, locate your Disable code. Then:

1. Go to https://my.screenname.aol.com/, enter your username and password, and click Sign In.

2. In the 2-Factor Authentication window, under the "Text me" and "Call me" buttons, click Having trouble?

3. Click the 2nd link that appears: Phone unavailable?

4. This opens the Disable code screen. Enter your username, password, and the Disable code.

5. Click Turn off. This disables 2-Factor Authentication so you don’t need an extra code to sign into your account. You can now just sign into your account with your username and password.

You can return to https://account.aol.com anytime to turn 2-Factor Authentication back on.

If you lost your phone, use the Disable code you received when you set up 2-Factor Authentication. The Disable code turns off 2-Factor Authentication so you can just sign into your account with your password and no extra code.

Here’s how:

1. Go to https://my.screenname.aol.com/, enter your username and password, and click Sign In.

2. In the 2-Factor Authentication window, under the "Text me" and "Call me" buttons, click Having trouble?

3. Click the 2nd link that appears: Phone unavailable?

4. This opens the Disable code screen. Locate the Disable code you received when you set up 2-Factor Authentication, and enter it.

5. Click Turn off. This disables 2-Factor Authentication so you don’t need an extra code to sign into your account. You can now simply sign into your account with your username and password.

You can return to https://account.aol.com anytime to turn 2-Factor Authentication back on.

If you can’t locate the Disable code, you’ll need to go through a manual process of account verification by placing a call to 2-Factor Authentication tech support at 866-209-1219. It can take up to 3-5 business days to restore access to your account.

(The Disable code was shown during setup for 2-Factor Authentication. The window displaying the Disable code contains a Print button and other recommended methods for saving the code in a safe, memorable place. Did you print it and place it somewhere? Did you write it down?)

Apps require application passwords because they don’t send sign-in codes. When you have 2-Factor Authentication turned on, apps connect to your AOL account with an app password.

The AOL app and Alto do not require an application password. AIM does require an application password. Sorry for the inconvenience!

The AOL app will require you to enter a code for 2-Factor Authentication when your current session expires, or if you sign out then sign back in.

Apps that require an app password include:

• AIM
• mobile Mail apps: iPhone / Android / Windows and others
• desktop Mail apps: Outlook / Thunderbird / Mac and others
• Calendar and Contacts apps

The AOL app for iPhone and Android, as well as Alto, do not require an app password.

Yes. Once you’ve got 2-Factor Authentication set up, check the “Trust this device” check-box in the Login window. When you next sign in on that device, you won’t have to enter a code to sign in.

If you clear cookies or reset the browser, you will have to use a 2-Factor Authentication code again to sign in.

The easiest way to un-trust a device is to reset the browser (clear cookies / cache). This resets the “Trust” for the computer, so you’ll have to enter codes again next time you sign in.

You can also go to https://account.aol.com and turn off 2-Factor Authentication. When you turn it back on, simply do not check the “Trust this device” checkbox the next time you sign in.

Here’s how to turn off 2-Factor Authentication:

1. Go to https://account.aol.com. You may need to sign in or answer a security question to verify it’s you.

2. Under “2-Factor Authentication,” click Turn Off in the right-hand column.

To disable an app on a device:

1. Visit https://account.aol.com.

2. Under 2-Factor Authentication, on the “Application Passwords” line, click Edit.

3. On the page that opens, click Revoke on the line showing the app you would like to disable.

Note: If you continue to have 2-Factor Authentication turned on for your AOL account, this will disconnect your AOL account from that app.

Yes. If you reset the browser, clear cache or clear cookies, you will have to sign in again and enter the 2-Factor Authentication sign-in code to restore your Trusted Device setting.

Go to https://my.screenname.aol.com/, and when you’re signing in with your username and password, select “Trust this device” in the sign-in window.

Yes. A device won’t be “Trusted” again until you set up 2-Factor Authentication again and select “Trust this device.”

Yes, it works with the latest beta version of AOL Desktop – 9.8.2 (beta 2). If you use an older version of AOL Desktop, you won’t be able to use 2-Factor Authentication unless you upgrade to the 9.8.2 beta 2. You can get the beta here.

No, Authenticator applications currently won’t work with AOL’s 2-Factor Authentication. But we’re working on it. Stay tuned!

Yes, our 2-Factor Authentication supports non-US accounts and phone numbers.

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