I remind you that Lemmy.world has recently implemented the ability to enable two-factor authentication.
To enable it, go to your profile settings and find the 2FA button at the bottom. Once you click on “Save” the page will reload and you will have a new “2FA installation link” button that will allow you to save the authentication seed.
Remember to always save the seeds and/or QR codes of accounts with two-factor authentication. Many password managers like Biwarden or KeePassXC allow you to save 2FA codes. However, this would mean that together with the credentials such as email and password there will also be 2FA creating a single breaking point which in some cases is not convenient.
An alternative is to use 2FA applications such as Aegis, FreeOTP, and others (I would avoid Authy because it requires a phone number) or use keys such as Yubikey and the like.
Tried it, but didn’t work with Microsoft Authenticator (don’t judge me). Somehow the code I get is wrong.
I was afraid I got locked out of my account, but after a password reset you are logged in and can disable 2FA.
Don’t worry, everyone is free to use any product and software they are comfortable with, the important thing is always to have a backup to avoid, as you said, being “locked out”! ☺️
Anyway, I’m not sure but maybe you can try this, copy the link when you press the “2FA installation link” button, and you will have something like this: otpauth://totp/Lemmy.world:[your name account]?secret=[your secret seed for 2FA]&algorithm=[bla bla bla]
Copy [your secret seed for 2FA] and put it in the authenticator you use.
Unfortunately, I don’t use Microsoft Authenticator so I can’t verify but this can be a starting point for sure.
Thanks, I’ll try that on the desktop.
Doing it all from my phone is probably half the reason it didn’t work.