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Two-step sign-in: add Blended Teaching to Duo, Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator

Signing in now takes a 6-digit code from the app you already use for your university sign-in. Here's how to add Blended Teaching to it.

Signing in to Blended Teaching now takes your password and a 6-digit code from an app on your phone. Use the app you already use to sign in to your university; for many instructors, that is Duo Mobile. Your password stays the same.

To set it up, click Set up app in the blue bar at the top of your Control Center. Do it by the date the bar shows. After that date, your Control Center won't open until it's set up. Setup takes about three minutes.

If you'd like a hand, email [email protected] and we'll set it up with you.

In this article:

  1. Why we ask for a code

  2. Which app do you use?

  3. Duo Mobile

  4. Microsoft Authenticator

  5. Google Authenticator

  6. Another app

  7. Setting up on your phone or iPad

  8. Type the code to finish

  9. If your code doesn't work

  10. New phone or locked out

Why we ask for a code

Your account holds your exams and your students' grades. Federal privacy law (FERPA) expects schools, and the companies they work with, to keep student records secure. A code from your phone is the standard way to do that. It's why many universities ask you to use Duo to sign in to Canvas.

A password alone no longer protects them well enough. In spring 2026, Canvas was broken into twice in two weeks, and the names and email addresses of millions of students and staff were exposed. Leaked addresses like these are used to send fake sign-in emails, and AI has made those much harder to spot. With a code from your phone, a stolen password isn't enough to get in.

Which app do you use?

Use the app you already have on your phone. Duo Mobile, Microsoft Authenticator and Google Authenticator all work, and so does any other authenticator app, including the one in a password manager.

On the setup page, under 1. Which app do you use?, pick yours:

  • Duo Mobile

  • Microsoft Authenticator

  • Google Authenticator

  • Other app, for any other authenticator app

The steps on the page change to match the app you pick, using that app's own button names. If you pick the wrong one, pick another: the code and key on the page stay the same, so you don't start over.

Don't have any of these? Install Microsoft Authenticator from your phone's app store (the App Store on an iPhone or iPad, Google Play on Android), then pick it on the setup page.

Duo Mobile

On a computer, scan the code on the screen with your phone:

  1. In your Control Center, click Set up app in the blue bar, and pick Duo Mobile under 1. Which app do you use?

  2. On your phone, open Duo Mobile and tap Add, then Use QR code.

  3. Point your phone at the code on your computer screen. If it asks to use the camera, allow it.

  4. Name it Blended and tap Save.

  5. Tap Blended in Duo Mobile to see its 6-digit code, then finish with Type the code to finish below.

On the setup page, picking Duo Mobile shows its own steps and the code to scan

Your university sign-in won't change. Duo Mobile adds a separate Blended entry. Your university entry, and the way you sign in to your university, stay exactly as they are.

If Duo Mobile won't scan the code, select Use Microsoft Authenticator instead under the steps and follow those steps.

Microsoft Authenticator

  1. In your Control Center, click Set up app in the blue bar, and pick Microsoft Authenticator under 1. Which app do you use?

  2. On your phone, open Microsoft Authenticator and tap +, then Other account (Google, Facebook, etc.).

  3. Point your phone at the code on your computer screen. If it asks to use the camera, allow it.

  4. Type the 6-digit code the app shows for Blended, as described in Type the code to finish below.

On the setup page, picking Microsoft Authenticator shows its own steps and the code to scan

Google Authenticator

  1. In your Control Center, click Set up app in the blue bar, and pick Google Authenticator under 1. Which app do you use?

  2. On your phone, open Google Authenticator and tap +, then Scan a QR code.

  3. Point your phone at the code on your computer screen. If it asks to use the camera, allow it.

  4. Type the 6-digit code the app shows for Blended, as described in Type the code to finish below.

On the setup page, picking Google Authenticator shows its own steps and the code to scan

Another app

If your app isn't listed, pick Other app. Every authenticator app works with the same code and key, though its buttons may be named differently.

  1. In your Control Center, click Set up app in the blue bar, and pick Other app under 1. Which app do you use?

  2. Open your sign-in app on your phone.

  3. Choose to add an account, then to scan a QR code.

  4. Point your phone at the code on your computer screen. If it asks to use the camera, allow it.

  5. Name it Blended and save it.

On the setup page, picking your sign-in app shows its own steps and the code to scan

Setting up on your phone or iPad

Your phone can't scan its own screen, so when you set up on a phone the page shows a key to copy instead. On a computer, the key is under the code, after On your phone or iPad? Copy this key instead:

  1. On the setup page, select Copy next to your key.

  2. Add it to your app:

    • Duo Mobile: tap Add, tap Add other account, paste the key into Activation code and tap Next, then name it Blended and tap Save.

    • Microsoft Authenticator: tap +, tap Other account (Google, Facebook, etc.), then Or enter code manually. Type Blended as the account name, paste the key into Secret key, and tap Finish.

    • Google Authenticator: tap +, tap Enter a setup key, then type Blended as the account, paste the key into Your key, and tap Add.

    • Another app: choose to add an account, choose to enter a key or code by hand, then name it Blended, paste the key, and save it.

  3. Copy the 6-digit code the app shows and paste it into the setup page, as described in Type the code to finish below.

On a phone, select Setting up on a computer? Scan a code instead if you want to see the code to scan.

Type the code to finish

  1. Under 3. Type the 6-digit code from your app, type the code your app shows under Blended. In Duo Mobile, tap Blended to see it.

  2. Select Turn on two-step sign-in.

Typing the 6-digit code and selecting Turn on two-step sign-in

When the code is accepted, the page says You're all set. Select Continue to carry on where you were.

From then on, when we ask for a code, open your app and type the one under Blended.

If your code doesn't work

Codes change every 30 seconds. If the page says That code didn't match, the code probably changed while you were typing it. Wait for the next code and type it straight away; you don't need to scan again.

If you need to stop partway through, select Cancel, or Sign out once setup is required. Nothing is turned on until a code is accepted, so you can start again later.

If you got an email saying Authenticator app removed after starting and not finishing, that's about the unfinished setup. Click Set up app and start again.

New phone or locked out

Email [email protected], or click I'm locked out on the sign-in page. We'll check it's you and reset it, and you can add Blended to your app again.

Students who open Blended through your LMS aren't asked for a code.

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