Nintendo 2FA: How to enable two-factor authentication on your Nintendo Switch account

Related Articles

Where to find Stray Notebooks in The Slums

July 22, 2022

Assassins Creed is finally set to head to Japan, according to new rumour

July 15, 2022

After waiting almost 2 years, Genshin Impact fan community goes private after their favorite character is confirmed dead

July 15, 2022

Ealier this year, Nintendo suffered from a data breach (opens in new tab) that left approximately 160,000 accounts compromised. As a result, it was strongly advised to set up Nintendo 2FA on your Nintendo Switch account. The company has since announced there have been another 140,000 accounts in the same breach, and that all affected users have been contacted. If you’re concerned about the safety of your Nintendo account — and even if you’re not — it’s worth setting up Nintendo Switch 2FA, so we’ve got a complete guide on how to do it.

How to set up Nintendo 2FA

1. Firstly, you’ll want to go and log in to your Nintendo account (opens in new tab).
2. Next, click on Sign-In and Security Settings.
3. Look for Two-Step Verification at the bottom and if it says “Not enabled”, click Edit, followed by Enable two-step verification.
4. Click Submit and you’ll receive an email to the address associated with your Nintendo account.
5. Copy the verification code in the email and paste it into the box on the Nintendo website, then click Submit.
6. Now you’ll be faced with some steps on the Nintendo website. The first of these is to download Google Authenticator from either the App Store or the Google Play Store, depending on which model of cell phone you have.
7. Open Google Authenticator on your phone and scan the QR code presented to you on the Nintendo site.
8. Now you should have another six digit code on the app. Enter that below the QR code on the site and click Submit.
9. Voila! Nintendo 2FA should be enabled. Make sure you copy and save the ten backup codes displayed on the final page in case you lose access to your Google Authenticator for one reason or another. Once you’ve done that, check the box that says “Backup codes saved” and you’ll be done.

Whenever you try to log on to your Nintendo account next, you’ll simply need to authenticate it with the code from Google Authenticator. If you get a request to log on that you don’t recognise? Thanks to 2FA, they won’t be able to access your account. Cheers, Nintendo!