A second lock for your Lifebook

Your Lifebook quietly holds a great deal of your life - your email, your calendar, your pages, your money, your reflections. That is the point of it. It is also a good reason to put a second lock on the door. From now on, within three months of opening your account, we will ask you to turn on two-factor authentication. Here is why, and how to do it in about two minutes.

Why a second step

Lifebook never asks you for a password. You sign in with your email and a one-time code we send you, so there is no password to forget, reuse, or have leaked in someone else's breach. That is already a kinder, safer way in than most of the web.

But it leans on one key: your email. If someone ever got into your inbox, that emailed code would be sitting right there for them. Two-factor authentication closes that gap. It adds a second code that lives only in an app on your own phone and changes every thirty seconds - something you have, not something that can be read out of an inbox. With it on, your email alone is no longer enough to get into your Lifebook. Only you, with your phone in your hand, can.

Your email gets you a code. Your phone proves it is you.

Turning it on

It takes a minute, and you will need a free authenticator app - Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator or a password manager like 1Password all work.

1. In Lifebook, open Settings → Account and find Security.
2. Tap Set up two-factor. Lifebook shows you a key (and, on a phone, a one-tap link into your app).
3. In your authenticator app, add a new account and scan or paste that key. The app starts showing a 6-digit code that ticks over every few seconds.
4. Type the current code back into Lifebook and press Turn on.
5. Lifebook gives you a set of recovery codes. Save them somewhere safe - a password manager, or printed and tucked away. Each one gets you in once if you ever lose your phone. This is the only time they are shown.

That is it. It is on.

What changes when you sign in

Almost nothing. You still start with your email and the code we send you. After that one extra step appears: enter the current 6-digit code from your authenticator app. A few seconds, and you are in - with the quiet certainty that nobody else could be.

If you lose your phone

This is the worry that stops people, so we planned for it. Those recovery codes you saved each work once in place of your app. Use one to get back in, then set two-factor up again on your new phone from the same Security screen. If you are ever truly stuck, write to us and we will help you back in safely.

Why we are making it standard

Lifebook is built to be the one calm, private place for your whole day, and the deal only holds if that place is genuinely yours. A second lock is a small habit that makes a real difference, so rather than leave it as an easily-forgotten option, we are making it the norm - gently, with three months' room to settle in first. If you would like to do it today, you can, and we would quietly recommend it.