Process Overview (video)
Two factor authentication overview (description)
2-step verification, or two-factor authentication, allows you to secure your Portal account by adding a second authentication element apart from your password. In this sense, to access your account you will use a logical element, i.e. your password, and a physical element, such as a device to confirm the authentication process.
EU Login presents different possibilities to authenticate using a second factor, and you will need to set up at least one of them, but we recommend you to set up more than one if possible:
- A registered device (smartphone, but it can also be a tablet) with the EU Login app installed on it.
- A registered security key external to your PC.
- A trusted platform if your pc has a trusted platform module (TPM), or Secure Enclave if it is a MAC, i.e. your pc supports biometric authentication such as a finger print sensor.
- A passkey stored on your mobile device (via the built-in password manager of your smartphone or tablet) or on a password manager on the PC, if you use one. For this method you do not need to install any app in the mobile, but:
- On your PC, you can use a password manager to store your passkey. This includes built-in browser password managers (such as Google Password Manager in Chrome or Apple Keychain in Safari) as well as third-party password managers installed as browser extensions. Please note that using a password manager means the private key is stored in the cloud, which is less secure than storing it on a device, but has the advantage of working on remote desktops as long as the browser and internet connection are available.
- Mobile devices include already a password manager (Google password Manager in Android or Password app in IPhone), so you can use it to store the passkey. If you store it on the mobile, both the device and the PC need to have Bluetooth enabled to communicate with each other when authenticating (you do NOT need to pair them).
- An eID.
The process to use two factor would comprise three steps:
- Register a two factor authentication method linked to your EU Login.
- Enable the two factor for your Portal account and set up 3 security questions.
- Select a two factor authentication method when signing in to the Portal.
Mandatory use of 2-Factor Authentication (2FA):
Over the course of 2026, securing access to your EU Login account via 2-factor authentication has become mandatory.
We encourage you to register more than one two factor so that you do not get blocked if the selected method is unavailable for you at one point.
Register a two factor authentication method
In all cases, you will need to access your EU Login account by clicking on your profile avatar on the Portal and selecting My Account, and then, click on the option to register the preferred method for second factor authentication, See below for the different options and concrete steps in each case.
Register a device (EU Login app)
Before registering the mobile device, please look for the EU Login mobile app in Google Play or App Store, depending on your device operating system, and have it installed in the device.
| Minimum Version | OS | Version |
|---|---|---|
| Android min. SDK version | 24 or Android 7.0, Marshmallow | |
| iOS deployment target | 12.0 |
iOS/iPadOS additional step
When using iOS/IPadOS you need to accept all authorization requests for the EU Login App after installing it (settings / applications and allow everything for the EU Login App)
You will use this option to register, typically, a smartphone, but you can also register a tablet.
Access your EU Login account.
After having the app installed on the device, access your EU Login Account on the Portal ( by clicking on your profile avatar on the Portal and selecting My Account), click on Manage my mobile devices.
Add the device to the list of your devices.
Click on Add a mobile device.
Provide a name for your device and a pin code of 4 digits. Click on Submit.
Link the device with the EU Login app.
You will be shown a QR code on the screen of your pc, you need to scan it using the EU Login App in your device.
Open the EU Login app in the device. Click on Register my device.
Then, you will see the steps to follow on the PC, if not done yet, as described above. click Continue.
Click Continue again on the following screen.
Scan now the QR code on your pc screen. Enter the pin you set up on your EU Login account (step 2 above).
If your device supports biometric identification, you will be able to use instead of the pin. If you wish to do so, enable it (move the button to the right) and click Finish registration, you will be prompted to use your biometric authentication on the device.
A confirmation will be displayed both on the device and on your computer. Then, on the app, you will see the following screen. When using the pin code, or biometric means of your device if enabled, the requests will display under Pending authentication requests. If you are scanning a QR code when logging in to your account, click on Scan QR code and capture the code on the PC screen, the app will show a code that you need to type on the pc to finish the logging in.
As from this moment, your device has been registered and you can proceed to authenticate with it.
When using the pin code, or biometric means of your device if enabled, the requests will display under Pending authentication requests. If you are scanning a QR code when logging in to your account, click on Scan QR code and capture the code on the PC screen, the app will show a code that you need to type on the pc to finish the logging in.
The app can be linked to more than one EU Login account if you have as from EU Login version 2.1 (it is normally updated automatically, so unless you have blocked the update, you will have a version supporting more than one account).
See Link your app to more than one account below for more details.Link your app to more than one account
To link a second account to your app, open the app on your device and click on your initials:
Then click on Link another account.
This opens the registration menu. When you see the image below, open the EU login you are adding and follow those steps. Then click on Continue and finish the registration as described above: Register a device (EU Login app).
At the end, you will see the confirmation that the device has been registered.
When you have more than one account, get used to always double-check the email address that you are currently using.
If the email does not correspond to the account you are using at that moment on the Portal, click your initials on the app and switch to the other email, or the authentication will fail. The account with the green tick is the one currently in use, simply click on the other one to switch to it.
Video tutorial: using the EU Login app
Register a security key
You can register a security key.
The security key is a USB key that you insert in the pc and that will act a second factor. There are different options on the market and the only prerequisite is that the security key needs to be compliant with the FIDO2 authentication standard (consult the manufacturer / product specifications before purchasing).
When you opt for this option, you are actually generating and storing a passkey to grant you access on a piece of hardware (the security key) that you will need to carry with you.
Access your EU Login account.
Access your EU Login Account on the Portal (by clicking on your profile avatar on the Portal and selecting My Account), click on Manage my Trusted Platforms, Security Keys and Passkeys.
Register a security key.
Insert the security key and click on Add a security key.
Provide a name for your security key and click on Submit.
Select the correct store location!
When using a Secure Key, you are actually generating a passkey and storing in the key. By default, Eu Login will try to store it always on your PC if compatible (i.e. TPM).
Please click on Change for the location .
Then select the correct location, in this case a Security key.
You will be asked to insert the security Key.
If you are asked to allow ecas.ec.europa.eu (this is the EU Login service) to have access to the manufacturing details of your key. Click OK to confirm, otherwise, skip to following step.
Provide a pin for your security key and click OK.
You will be requested to touch the key now.
At this point, your security key has been registered and you may use it as second factor.
Register a trusted platform
You can also register your PC as trusted platform and use it as second factor if it has a trusted platform module (TPM), a specialised security chip available in most modern PCs. You know that your PC contains this module because it allows you to secure the access via a pin code or via biometric solutions, such as a touch-ID, an area where you place your finger to gain access to the PC based on your previously registered fingerprint, or other means such as facial recognition. An example using TPM will be the Windows Hello service, so if you have Windows Hello enabled with at least a PIN authentication, you can use it even if the PC does not have touch-ID nor other biometric solutions. The equivalent for TPM in MACs is called secure enclave.
To use this last option, you will need to have configured the biometric access or Pin code access in your PC first. When registering the trusted platform, EU Login will detect the TPM and ask you to use it as trusted platform.
Access your EU Login account.
Access your EU Login Account on the Portal (by clicking on your profile avatar on the Portal and selecting My Account), click on Manage my Trusted Platforms, Security Keys and Passkeys.
Register a trusted platform.
Click on Add a Trusted Platform.
Then provide a name for your platform and click Submit.
A pop-up will show you the email for which you are storing the passkey in the TPM, click Continue.
You will see the authentication method that has been set up for your PC, in our example we are using Biometric authentication, click on Sign-in option to see all the authentication methods configured on your pc (i.e. finger print, pin, etc), then select the one you want to use.
After authentication with the PC has been successful, you can start using it as second factor now.
You can link the TPM and security key to more than one account. Thus, this option could work for users with two accounts (i.e. a professional and a private accounts) or users sharing the same PC.
You can also link several TPMs and security keys to one same account. You will need to confirm the registration of the rest of TPMs/security keys with the one you registered first; then you can freely use each one to authenticate.
Video tutorial: using a security key or trusted platform
Register a passkey on a password manager (installed on your PC)
You can generate a passkey, store it in a password manager, either installed as software on your PC, or on a browser extension enabled on your browser. Then, you will use your password manager as second factor authentication.
This works with third-party password managers installed as browser extensions (such as Bitwarden, Dashlane, Proton, LastPass, NordPass, or Keeper) as well as built-in browser password managers (such as Google Password Manager in Chrome or Apple Keychain in Safari).
This method can work on remote desktops, as long as the browser extension is available and has internet connectivity. Note however that the private key is stored in the cloud, which makes it less secure than storing it locally on a device.
The limitation with this option is that if your PC is a corporate one, your organisation could be blocking the option to install/use extensions or even manage profiles in the browsers (i.e. your google account in Chrome, you account in Firefox, etc.).
Access your EU Login account.
Make sure that the password manager is running
Access your EU Login Account on the Portal (by clicking on your profile avatar on the Portal and selecting My Account). If you are using a built-in password manager in the browser, make sure to access the EU Login in that same browser. Click on Manage my Trusted Platforms, Security Keys and Passkeys.
Register your passkey.
Click on Add a passkey.
Give it a name
As from here, it will be a bit different depending of which password manager solution you are using. In our case, we have installed an extension in our browser, it is on and we have logged in to it, so EU Login will detect it as soon as we click on Submit.
EU Login detects it and checks for existing passkeys. Since this is first time, none is detected. We will ask to save it as "new login", which in the example we are using translates into generating a new passkey for EU Login since none were found. As said, what you see on the screen depends a bit on the solution you are using, so please read all options you see on the screen to understand how it works (for instance, in our solution we have also the "+ New" button that would be useful if it detected already a passkey stored in our solution for EU Login and we would like to create a second passkey, etc....)
A confirmation displays for the added passkey.
A passkey stored on a password manager can be linked to one single EU Login, since it is unique, and there can be one passkey linked to a given EU Login. However, it is possible to create a second passkey linked to a different EU Login in the same device. Thus, this option could work for users with two accounts (i.e. a professional and private accounts).
Passkeys stored in a password manager are synced to the cloud and can be used across multiple devices where the password manager is installed, so this could be an advantage if you work on different PC/devices using to access your Portal account.
You can register several passkeys stored in different pw managers. You will only need to confirm the registration of further passkeys with one existing registered 2factor authentication method, then use each passkey freely.
Register a passkey on a mobile device
Mobile devices will already use a password manager, so if you want to use it for authentication, you may store it on your mobile. Then, when using your EU login on your PC you will need to authenticate with your mobile.
The authentication works always in the same way: You will select passkey on the options, then make sure to select mobile device from the options, you will scan a QR, the mobile will communicate with the PC using Bluetooth, and you will use the built in password manager (google password manager in android, password app in IPhone) to confirm the authentication.
The registration of the passkey, however, will be slightly different if you are using only your mobile phone to register it, or both the PC and the mobile.
Register only with phone
Just remember, for the registration as explained below, the trick is to open EU Login directly on a browser on your mobile, add the passkey from there so that EU Login recognises the password manager. If you open the EU Login on your PC instead, you will need to scan a QR instead (see below Register with phone and PC)
When you register it using only the mobile, you do not need to enable Bluetooth during the authentication, but when authenticating on the PC, both the mobile device and the PC must support Bluetooth and have it switched on to communicate.
Access EU Login in a browser on your mobile device.
In your mobile device, open a browser session and go to the Portal, log in and click on your profile, select My Account.
Click on Manage my Trusted Platforms, Security Keys and Passkeys.
Register your passkey
Select to Add a Passkey.
Give it a name and click on Submit.
It will directly detect the password manager of your device (Google password manager in Android, Password app in iPhone), accept it and authenticate as you usually do on your mobile to confirm and finish the registration.
Finally, you will see the confirmation that the selected method has been added to your list.
Register with phone and PC
When registering your passkey in this way, you will manually select the mobile as location for your passkey and read a QR with the mobile device, both the PC and the mobile device will need to have the Bluetooth enabled (you do not need to pair them, but they will communicate via Bluetooth in order to execute the authentication).
Access your EU Login account
To store the passkey on the device, but using your PC to link it to your EU Login, go to the Portal on your PC, click on your profile, and select My Account.
Register the passkey on your mobile
Click on Manage my Trusted Platforms, Security Keys and Passkeys.
Select to Add a Passkey.
Give it a name and click on Submit.
If your PC uses TPM (trusted platform), or a password manager, you might see just TPM/PW manager options, make sure to cancel and select manually the mobile. The screen below will be different depending on what has been detected, here it is the TPM what was detected, so we will click on Change to manually select the mobile device.
Then select the option Use a different phone or tablet. Note that this option can look a bit different depending on the browser you are using. These are two examples using two different browsers.
If you do not see any option for phone/tablet, it could be a problem of your browser, please use a different browser or proceed with usual clean up of your browser (delete cache, etc.).
A QR is generated with the passkey, scan it with your device.
Tap the passkey on the device to use it.
Then, click continue to save it.
Authenticate on the device with your device pin.
Back on your PC, you will see a confirmation that the Passkey was linked to your EU Login.
A passkey stored on a device can be linked to one single EU Login, since it is unique, and there can be one passkey linked to a given EU Login per device. However, it is possible to create a second passkey linked to a different EU Login in the same device. Thus, this option could work for users with two accounts (i.e. a professional and private accounts). Passkeys stored in a password manager are synced to the cloud and can be used across multiple devices where the password manager is installed.
You can register several passkeys stored in different devices. You will only need to confirm the registration of further passkeys with one existing registered 2factor authentication method, then use each passkey freely.
Video tutorial: using a passkey
Link an eID to your EU Login account
You can use your National ID eCard (eID) as second factor. This is currently only possible for the countries that provide this service. Also note that the process to confirm the registration or log in happens in the country specific website or with the specific eID solution of the country. Thus, we will need to refer you to your country eID support for guidance on the specific steps to follow per country.
The use of National ID eCard as second factor authentication method usually implies having an additional hardware (i.e. a card reader). You have to make sure you have that piece of hardware if you opt for this method, but some countries offer virtual solutions and you would not need the card reader, for example the ITSME app for Belgium allowing you to identify via an APP instead of reading the eID.
Access your EU Login account.
Go to My Account and click on Manage my eID.
Click on Link my eID.
Select the country where the eID was issued and click on Submit.
Confirm by authenticating on your eID
A browser window will open, it will look different depending on the selected country, but in all cases:
- You will be presented with a list of the attributes that will be shared (i.e. name, surname, date of birth, person identifier).
- You will be requested to authenticate with your eID.
- You will be asked to confirm the sharing of the listed attributes.
After confirming, you will return to the EU Login screen and will see the confirmation that the eID has been linked to your EU Login Account.
As from this moment, you can use the eID as second factor when logging in to your EU Login account.
You may link the eID to one EU Login account, only.
You may log in to the portal using the eID directly, instead of an EU Login, but please note that this is something else NOT directly related to the use of multifactor for authentication.
In few words, this is a service that allows you to access the Portal with something else other than the EU Login as an alternative sign in method. When opting for this option, it is very important that you have linked to eID previously to your EU Login, otherwise the system will create a temporal login for that eID.
If you have linked the eID previously to your EU Login as described above, then you will access to your usual data without problems if you are logging in directly with your eID. When it comes to multi factor authentication, the Portal will recognise it as valid second factor, and you will not be given an option to select a 2 factor authentication method.
If you have NOT linked the eID previously to your EU Login, please do NOT sign in with your eID to the Portal; it will seem to work, but in reality it will NOT work properly (i.e. no access to your data, everything you do in your Portal account will be lost when logging out, being blocked for certain services such a submission of grant proposals, etc..).
Video tutorial: using an eID
Enable two-factor authentication
Go to your security settings (i.e. log in to the Portal, click on the arrow below the image of your profile and select Security Settings).
Click on Activate. 
Enable security questions
Next, we will ask you to provide us with the answer to three security questions. It is important to remember these answers because you will need them in order to regain access in the case you lose access to your second factor authenticator:
Select three different questions from the drop-down list and enter an answer. Click on Send Questions to confirm.
No special characters are allowed, only Latin characters. Note also that upper case, spaces and accents (è,é,ê, ë, etc.) will not be considered when prompted to provide the answers to deactivate. You will receive an email confirming the activation of the two-factor authentication.
Also, the screen of your security settings will indicate that the two-factor authentication is active for your account.
At this point, click on Cancel to return to the homepage.
Use two-factor authentication
When two-factor authentication is active, select the option you registered as second factor.
These are the possible options you can use according to what you have registered as second factor:
- if you registered a security key, a trusted platform or passkey, select Trusted platform, security key or passkey at the top of the list (1).
- if you registered a device, with the EU Login App, you can select either Eu Login Mobile App Pin Code or Eu Login Mobile App QR code (2).
- if you registered your eID, select Electronic ID (eID) (3).
You can still log in to the portal with just your password (option Password (4) in the list), but if two factor is enabled, you will be prompted to use it.
If you are using EU Funding & Me mobile app and you also use the EU Login app as authentication method, you should NOT select the QR Code/ Pin code options for the EU Login app, but select the On Mobile Authentication that you will see, in order to use directly the EU Login App in your Mobile.
Once authenticated, or the two-factor authentication has been deactivated when applicable, you will be able to access any of the applications on the left-side navigation menu. See below for more details (Disable two-factor authentication).
Disable two-factor authentication
As mentioned before, the use of two factor will become mandatory along 2026 for everyone. The options to disable it depend on your current situation:
If the use of two-factor authentication is NOT mandatory for your account, you may deactivate it via the security settings at any time:
Also, if you sign in just with a password, while two-factor is active, you will be asked to use it (1) or to deactivate it (2).
Optionally you could replace your authentication method, but if the problem is that your method is not available, you'd better deactivate it and activate it back when your method is available again:
Deactivating (option 2) is done by providing the answer to your security questions, if you do not remember them, contact the helpdesk:
If the use two-factor is mandatory for your account, you will not see any option to deactivate it when going to your security settings:
Also, if you sign in with password only, you will have only the possibility to sign in with two-factor (1) or to replace (2) your current method (see below Replace an authentication method for more details).
For the latter, you need to answer your security questions. If you do not remember the answer to your questions, please contact the helpdesk.
Adding / Removing a method from the list of your registered methods
You can add /remove a method from your registered methods, always that you have access to an already registered method. This is so, because once that one method has been registered, adding or removing new methods will prompt you to use it in your EU Login account.
This step is presented only if you accessed your EU Login with your password, it will be skipped if you have logged in using two-factor authentication.
To add or remove authentication methods, go to My account option from the account menu on the right upper-corner.
Then select, for instance, Manage my mobile devices / Delete a mobile device, or the corresponding method in the list of methods. Finally, click on add or remove accordingly, in this case we are deleting a device.
Afterwards, you will be able to use your new 2-factor verification, if you added a new one:
Notice that whenever you remove a device, even if you still have a second method in your EU Login, when accessing your Portal account, you could see the following recovery screen.
For security reasons, you need to authenticate using the answer to your three questions. If you do not remember the answer to your questions, please contact the helpdesk.
Remove all methods: panic button
You have the possibility to delete all registered methods linked within your EU Login account using a "panic button".
When clicking this button, a warning message will be shown informing that authentication by means of a device will not be possible any more. After confirming via the Delete button, you will get logged out.
You can log in back to your EU Login account using the usual password, but if the two-factor authentication was enabled when deleting the associated devices, you will not have access to any of the applications under My Area, because you will be prompted to authenticate using two-factor.
In this case, what you can do depends on whether use of two-factor authentication became mandatory for you or not:
Deactivate two-factor authentication (if not mandatory for your account)
Only if the use of two factor is not mandatory for your account, you may deactivate it (as described above, see Disable two-factor authentication), then you are asked to provide the answer to your security questions, and after providing the answers, two-factor will be deactivated. As from that moment, you can access your services under My Area on the left. If you wish to activate it again, you will have to register at least a new method, and activate it as described above (see Enable two-factor authentication)
If it is mandatory, you will not see any option to deactivate it.
Replace your two-factor method (i.e. register a new one).
You can register a new method. You need to know the answer to your security questions, if you don't, please contact the helpdesk because you will be blocked when accessing the Portal.
To register the new device, from this same screen, go to My account:
Your EU Login account opens a new tab, register the selected method as described above (see Register a two-factor authentication method). In this example, we will add a trusted platform.
Once the registration has been done, close this tab.
Back to your previous tab containing the session on the Portal, click now the Click on Login with 2-Step Verification.
Provide the answer to your security questions:
Replace an authentication method
In the situation that your registered method is not available, adding a new method is not an option because you will be asked to authenticate with the registered one when trying to add the new method in your EU Login account.
As work around, you could replace it. To do this, you will need to be able to provide the answer to your security questions, because the Portal will present you with the recovery access screen when it detects that your EU Login two factor methods have changed.
The replacement involves:
- Remove your registered methods via the Panic button, as described above. You will be signed out.
- Access back to your EU Login account and register a new method. EU Login will NOT ask you to use two-factor because it is like you were registering a new one.
- Back on the Portal, sign in again using two-factor.
- You are presented with the recovery access screen, provide the answer to your security questions.
For details, see above the second option after having pressed the panic button.
Ideally, we insist that the best is to register always more than one method, to ensure that you are able to use one when the other is not available.