New: the Mac app

Authenticator for Mac2FA codes in your menu bar

The same authenticator as our Chrome extension, as a Mac app. Press ⌘⇧2 in any app and the code for that app or website is typed in for you. Unlock with Touch ID, scan QR codes off the screen, and move your accounts from the extension in one step.

Download for Mac

macOS 13 Ventura or later · Apple silicon & Intel · Free

Signed and notarized by Apple. Developer: Kobaltstack LLC.

Looking for the Chrome extension? Add to Chrome

What the Mac app does

Codes in any app with ⌘⇧2

Press ⌘⇧2 anywhere and a small palette opens with the account for the app or website you are in at the top. Press Enter and the code is typed into the field you were in. Without permission to type, it is copied instead, and the clipboard is cleared after 45 seconds. You can change the shortcut.

Unlock with Touch ID

Turn on password protection, and Touch ID can unlock your codes. The key behind it is kept in your Mac's Secure Enclave. Your password and recovery code keep working, so Touch ID is never the only way in.

The right account first

The app asks your browser — Chrome, Safari, Arc, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi or Opera — for the address of the current tab and puts the matching account first. In other apps it remembers which account you used there. With password protection on, that memory is encrypted too.

Scan a QR code on your screen

Setting up 2FA on a website? Scan its QR code straight off the screen, no phone needed. Or hold a code up to your Mac's camera, such as a Google Authenticator export.

Everything the extension does

The same interface in the same 20 languages, with groups, search, import from other authenticator apps and export to a file. Exports are saved to your Downloads folder.

Free, and it updates itself

No account and no sign-up. The app lives in the menu bar and can open at login. New versions are checked for at authenticator.sh, and only an update signed by us is installed.

Move from the Chrome extension

Already using the extension? Your accounts move to the Mac app in one step. The app reads them from the extension's data in your browser profile on this Mac — nothing goes through our server, and the extension keeps working as before.

1
Open the downloaded file, drag Authenticator to Applications, and open it from there.
2
On first launch the app finds the extension by itself and offers to move your accounts. Later, click the app's menu bar icon and choose “Move from the Chrome Extension…”.
3
Pick the browser profile and move it. If the extension is protected with a password, enter that password first.

Works with the extension in Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc and Vivaldi, and each browser profile can become its own group. After the move the two keep separate lists: an account you add in one does not appear in the other.

Permissions, and why the app asks for them

All of them are optional. macOS asks for each one only when you first use the feature that needs it, and the app works without any of them.

Accessibility
What it is for
Typing the code into the field you were in when you press Enter in the palette.
Without it
The code is copied instead, and you paste it.
Screen Recording
What it is for
Reading a QR code on your screen. The screenshot is processed on your Mac and deleted right away.
Without it
Use the camera, or choose an image of the QR code.
Automation (Apple Events)
What it is for
Asking your browser for the address of the current tab, so the matching account comes first. macOS asks once for each browser.
Without it
No suggestion from the browser — search for the account instead.
Camera
What it is for
Scanning a QR code you hold up to the camera, such as a Google Authenticator export.
Without it
Scan from the screen, or choose an image.

To allow typing later, choose “Allow Typing Codes into Apps…” in the app's menu bar menu. Any permission can be turned off again in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Free plan and Pro

They work as in the extension. Buying Pro opens the checkout in your default browser, and the license arrives in the app by itself. You can also enter your license key: “Settings” → “Pro” → “I have a license key”.

2FA Authenticator Pro

Where your codes are stored

On your Mac, in your own user folder, and encrypted when password protection is on. The app keeps automatic backups in a second folder.

Your accounts and settings: ~/Library/Application Support/sh.authenticator.app/
Automatic backups: ~/Library/WebKit/sh.authenticator.app/
Exports you make: ~/Downloads/

Removing the app and your codes

Moving the app to the Trash does not delete your codes, so reinstalling it finds them again. To erase them as well:

If you might need the codes again, export a backup first.
Quit the app: click its menu bar icon and choose “Quit Authenticator”.
In Finder choose Go → Go to Folder, enter ~/Library/Application Support and press Return. Move the folder sh.authenticator.app to the Trash.
Do the same in ~/Library/WebKit: move its folder sh.authenticator.app to the Trash.
Move Authenticator from Applications to the Trash, and empty the Trash.

Or, with the app quit, in Terminal:

rm -rf ~/Library/"Application Support"/sh.authenticator.app ~/Library/WebKit/sh.authenticator.app

Questions about the Mac app

Is there a Mac app?

Yes. Authenticator for Mac is a free menu bar app with the same interface, languages, groups, import and export as the extension. On top of that:

Press ⌘⇧2 in any app: a palette opens with the account for that app or website first, and Enter types the code into the field you were in
Touch ID unlocks your codes when password protection is on
It scans a QR code on your screen or with the camera

It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later and runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Download it from authenticator.sh/mac. There is no Windows or phone app.

Does the Mac app work on Intel Macs?

Yes. It is one universal app that runs natively on Apple silicon (M1 and later) and on Intel Macs. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later; on an older macOS, use the Chrome extension instead.

How do I move my accounts from the extension to the Mac app?

In one step, on the same Mac:

Install the Mac app and open it
On first launch it finds the extension and offers to move your accounts. Later: click the app's menu bar icon → "Move from the Chrome Extension…"
Pick the browser profile and move it. If the extension is protected with a password, enter that password first

The app reads the accounts from the extension's data in your browser profile on this Mac; nothing goes through our server. It works with the extension in Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc and Vivaldi. The extension keeps its accounts, and from then on the two keep separate lists.

From another computer: export a file in the extension (Settings → "Export") and import it in the Mac app (Settings → "Import").

Why does the Mac app ask for Accessibility or Screen Recording?

Each permission is for one feature, and all of them are optional:

Accessibility: to type the code into the field you were in when you press Enter in the ⌘⇧2 palette. Without it the code is copied instead, and the clipboard is cleared after 45 seconds
Screen Recording: to read a QR code on your screen. The screenshot is processed on your Mac and deleted right away. Without it, use the camera or choose an image
Automation: to ask your browser for the address of the current tab, so the matching account comes first. macOS asks once for each browser
Camera: to scan a QR code you hold up to the camera

macOS asks for each one the first time you use that feature. You can turn any of them off in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

All questions

What the app stores and what it sends, in full: privacy policy.

Get Authenticator for Mac

Free. macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.