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2FA not working


GreyGray

Idea

I am trying to setup 2FA with Evernote and 1Password, Authy, or Google Authenticator. 

First, the key code Evernote gives to enter into your 2FA app, would be much better, and more able to rule out end user error, were it able to be copied and pasted. ( at least in iOS )

I have copied the code, and taken the resulting 6 digit key to Evernote, where it is promptly rejected. I should mention, I have 15+ other websites using the same procedure and successfully using 2FA, it is only Evernote that doesn’t work. I can see the 2FA 6 digit code in 1Password, Authy, and Google Authenticator, all match, and all are synced and expiring at the same time. That should rule out my need to sync any clocks or anything of that nature. Just to be safe I did anyway, though I don’t know how much I can change about the time on iOS. It’s either 12 or 24 hour, I’m not willing to shift my time on my mobile beyond that cosmetic change. I fear too much in iOS relies on the time bring pretty precise. 

In searching the web, there’s one app out there that seems to stand alone in that users are not able to finish setting up 2FA and abandon the forum post. Evernote. I can only imagine how many support tickets users walk from knowing it’s not them. I don’t see other apps having any trouble setting this up. I see others with invalid keys, and also many other apps already working, its only Evernote that is spitting out the wrong key. 

I think I can safely say, somehow, Evernote is giving out the wrong start seed. I have an older 2FA entry for Evernote in Authy, and that one, out of 3 more in Authy, 2 in 1Password, and 1 in Authenticator, gives out a different 6 digit code. It is also based on a different 16 digit input key. But it works. For some reason 2FA on Evernote is giving out the wrong key, or O’s and 0’s are getting fiddled internally or by end users. I’ve tried swapping to no success. 

Is the web client the only way to enable 2FA? How do I enable it on iOS? Mac OS?

Please chiMe in if you too walked from getting this working. 

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I can't say I have had this problem.  I have used authy with evernote 2FA for years. One key, all my devices.  If I was you, I would turn off 2FA, delete all the extra keys you got set up in authy, 1password and authenticator and then turn it back on and register it.  You got too much junk in there to know what works and what doesn't.  You don't enable 2FA authentication by operating system, it is based on your account.  If you set up 2FA against your account, you use the same code against the web client, iOS, Mac OS, windows app, etc.  HTH

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@GreyGray, please take a look at our documentation on how to enable 2FA. I personally use 2FA for more than 10 different Evernote accounts I need to switch between and they all work great. I'm personally using Duo Mobile for my authenticator, but any of the others should work fine. As @zotje noted, 2FA is enabled per account, not per device or client. You may want to go to your account settings and disable 2FA. Then, delete all the Evernote 2FA entries on your authenticator apps. Then, try to setup 2FA again.

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  • Level 5
On 3/11/2023 at 10:19 AM, Toonamo said:

I am having the same exact problem. I have tried to enable it 3 times. Each time I get an error that the code is not what Evernote was expecting. 
 

none of the above steps help

You're responding to a thread that is more than 4 years old. Things do change in that time. Can you give more details?

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thought it would be better to expand on the same thing than having multiple entries about the same thing. Are you saying that I should make a new post every time?


I wish the system gave me more to go off of. 
 

I am simply trying to add 2fa to my account. I verify the email. Verify the phone number. Get the code to put into google authenticator, then I put the six digit code in to verify and the website/Evernote server gives a error that the response wasn’t what it was expecting. 

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Check your time and time zone settings. The Authenticator codes are time based - they only work within the official 30 seconds, plus another 30 seconds after. When the code created is derived from a different time setting (or the device time is wrong, and doesn’t grab it from the web), the code will be wrong.

If you can’t identify the root cause, you can use SMS codes with all accounts. It may be a little less secure than cipher codes, but it still is much more secure than no 2FA at all.

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Yup. The authenticator gives the 30 second count down and the code changes when it hits zero. 
 

perhaps there is something wrong with the setup portion. 
 

seems like something simple. I have plenty of other things setup with 2fa. It’s just Evernote that doesn’t seem to work. 
 

is there a better way to get support?

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If subscribed, ask support. If not subscribed, subscribe, wait until the account has upgraded, ask support.

Personally I use 2 FA for my accounts since very long, and it never failed me. If your other 2FAs work, and this one not, you should erase it, and set it up again.

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Yeah, I don’t want to pay for something that won’t work for me. 
 

im glad it works for most of the user base but don’t want to subscribe and forget about it and rind I have been paying for software that has a bug. 
 

so maybe Evernote just isn’t for me 😕

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There is no bug, because then it would not work for anybody. Is the forum full of complains about 2FA ? No, its not.

You have an individual problem, you need to solve it individually. Getting help from support doesn't come for free - imagine, the people working there need to get something into their fridges as well.

You can decide for yourself  what you want to do. Actually I don't care about the outcome - you have everything now to make an informed decision.

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Or perhaps Evernote does have a problem that is going unresolved. 
 

it doesn’t work on multiple browsers and devices my friend. So there is obviously a problem. Not a lot of people like 2fa or even know about it. 
 

but hey what do I know. However if it’s a take or leave it attitude topped with a I don’t give a ***** attitude then cool. 
 

later days my guy. 

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I have no doubt you have a problem. I think I have it isolated now: 

Since you are on Free, the authenticator will never work for you.

Free users can ONLY use SMS codes for 2FA, no authenticator. It may be it is still documented differently in the help pages (I have reported this mistake at support some time ago). But it is a fact that the authenticator use is reserved for subscribers.

So use SMS codes, or no codes at all, just your PW.

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