Enabling two-factor authentication

Airtable supports two-factor authentication (also known as 2FA or two-step authentication) for greater account security.

Two-factor authentication adds a second level of authentication to your Airtable account login. So, in addition to your email/username and password, you (or anyone trying to log into your account) will need to have some extra information or a physical device of yours. By choosing a second authentication factor, you can protect user logins from remote attacks that may exploit stolen credentials.

Note that you can only set up two-factor authentication with Airtable if you create an account using an Airtable password and email—if you log in with a Google account, you can't set up two-factor authentication this way (but you can set up two-factor authentication on your own Google account).

Enabling two-factor authentication for your Airtable account

To enable two-factor authentication on your Airtable account, go to your account page at https://airtable.com/account. You can also access your account page by clicking on your user icon in the top right corner of the screen, then clicking the "Account" option from the dropdown menu.

Once on the account page, click on the option to Set up two-factor authentication (2FA) next to your profile picture.

You'll need to sign in again for extra security. Next, you'll be asked to confirm whether or not you want to enable two-factor authentication—click the blue "Enable" button.

Then, you'll need to set up your phone by adding a phone number which you can use to receive authentication codes.

You'll need to enter your phone number (including the country code).

You should then shortly receive a text at your designated phone number providing you with your authentication code. After entering the correct code, you'll then be brought to the 2FA configuration page. You now have 2FA enabled on your Airtable account. Congrats!

Adding a second step (Changing your default second step)

You can add a second authenticator app step if you'd like by clicking on "Add an alternative second step" and "Use an authenticator app."

Clicking "Use an authenticator app" will generate a QR code that will allow you to configure an authenticator app on your phone.

After configuring the authenticator app and entering the verification code, using the authenticator app will be set as your default second step. (You'll be able to tell because it'll have a bold "(default)" after it.) You can change which of your second steps is your default second step by clicking the "set as default" option.

Backup options

In case you lose your phone, there are some backup options for you to recover your account.

Under the Backup options section of the 2FA page, there's a section that says "Show single-use backup codes." Clicking this will reveal a list of 12-character backup codes. In the event that you lose your phone or cannot receive or generate authentication codes, each of these codes can be used only once to access your account. Make sure you write these down or copy them into a safe place so that you can access them without getting into your account.

If you are afraid that your list of backup codes has been compromised, you can regenerate the backup codes by clicking the "regenerate" option here.

The "Add an additional backup option" will let you list a phone number (separate from the phone number you used for your second step) for recovery. For example, you could use the phone number of a trusted partner or a separate business phone in case you lose access to your primary phone number.

Disabling two-factor authentication for your Airtable account

If you decide that you'd like to disable two-step authentication, simply click on the "(disable)" option under the header.

You'll be asked to confirm that you want to disable 2FA one more time before it'll be officially disabled. You can re-enable it again at any time by following the steps in the previous section.

FAQs

Can two-factor authentication (2FA) be enforced for other users that have access to my base or workspace?

Two-factor authentication (2FA) can only be enforced for Enterprise FAQs using SSO.

Why am I receiving “Error submitting phone number; please try again.” or “Invalid phone number” when attempting to authenticate?

There are two potential reasons for receiving the above error messages:

• If a phone number is entered incorrectly 3 times, users are required to wait 24 hours before trying again due to daily 2FA limitations.
• Due to changes in restrictions, we cannot send SMS to numbers based in Singapore or Russia.

I set up two-factor authentication (2FA) but lost access to my second authentication method. What can I do?

If you can no longer access your second authentication method, click Problems getting an authentication code?

• This link will allow you to view all of your options for authentication. If you saved the backup codes provided when you set up 2FA, you can enter one by selecting Use a backup code.
• If you are still unable to access your account, please contact our support team.