Your verification code

Most accounts ask for one more thing after the password: a six-character code. This is multi-factor authentication, and it means that someone who has only your password still cannot get in.

The screen is titled Two-factor authentication, and which version of it you see depends on what your account already has set up.

If you have an authenticator app

The screen says Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app. Open the app on your phone, read the code for C2Connection, and type it in. It submits itself once the sixth digit is in.

If a code is refused, check you are reading the C2Connection entry in the app, and that your phone's clock is set automatically — a clock that is several minutes off produces codes that never match.

If the code is emailed to you

The screen may open on this directly, saying We will email you a one-time verification code. If you land on the setup screen described below instead, choose Email code under Use another method.

The screen shows where the code will go, with the address partly hidden, and you select Send code. When it arrives, type it in and select Verify. A code sent by email is six characters and can include letters; uppercase or lowercase both work.

• The code is single-use and expires after ten minutes. After five wrong tries it stops working, so request a new one.
• Resend code counts down from 30 seconds; after that you can ask for another code. If the first code turns up later, it is the newest one that works.
• If nothing arrives, check your spam folder. If the address on screen is not one you can reach, nobody can email you a code — the address on your account has to be changed first, which your company's C2 contact can arrange.

If the code is texted to you

If your account has a phone number, a code can also come by text message. Choose Text message under Use another method — or, if your account has a phone number but no email address a code can go to, the screen opens on it already, saying We will text you a one-time verification code.

If your account has more than one number, pick the one to use. Only its last digits are shown. Select Send code, type in the six digits from the text, and select Verify.

• The code is single-use and expires after a few minutes. Resend code appears after 30 seconds; the newest code is the one that works.
• A text can only go to a mobile phone. If the number is a landline, or one that cannot receive texts, the screen says so. Choose another method, or have the number corrected.
• If texts are not available at the moment, the screen tells you to use another method. Your email code or authenticator app still works.

Setting up an authenticator app

If you have no authenticator app yet, the screen after your password is titled Set up two-factor authentication, and the steps are on it:

1. Install an authenticator app on your phone. Any standard one works — Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or whichever you already use.
2. In the app, add an account and scan the QR code on screen. If your phone cannot scan it, the setup key printed underneath can be typed in instead.
3. Type the six-digit code the app now shows, and select Activate and log in.

You are signed in as soon as it is activated — there is no separate step afterwards.

Once you have finished onboarding at your company, this screen also offers Not now — take me to my dashboard. That defers the setup; it does not remove it. Signing a document still requires a code, so the app is worth setting up when you have your phone in your hand rather than when a signature is waiting.

If you cannot use the method you are shown

Under Use another method, beneath the code field, is a list of the other methods your account can use — Email code, Text message, Authenticator app, Set up an authenticator app — each with a line on what it asks of you. A lost phone is not a dead end: choose Email code and carry on.

If none of the options can reach you, ask your company's C2 contact. Nobody can read a code back to you, but the email address or phone number on your account can be corrected.