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enable two-factor authentication

To enable two-factor authentication is to activate a sign-in identity check that requires two authentication factors from different categories.

In plain English

This turns on an extra identity check when signing in. The person must prove identity in two separate ways, and those ways have to come from different kinds of proof.

In context

Here, it instructs the user to turn on that sign-in identity check that uses two different categories of authentication factor.

Situation
Responding to phishing, suspicious activity, fraud, and compromise alerts
What it communicates
instructs the user to turn on an extra sign-in check.

Meaning limits

By itself, this term does not say which factor categories are used or how the check is implemented.

Examples

“After she enabled two-factor authentication, signing in required two separate kinds of proof instead of only one.”

Core meaning

“The technician asked Mia to enable two-factor authentication on her account.”

In context