How do I set up Bitwarden Authenticator (TOTP)?
I have checked the guide (Bitwarden Authenticator (TOTP) | Bitwarden Help Center) but there’s no setup TOTP button after the first step. I have used the browser and app. No icon.
I have a premium account and am on MacOS.
Any help would be much appreciated.
The button shown below is only available on iOS or Android (mobile clients):
For other client apps, you can only enter the secret manually, typing it directly into the “Authenticator Key (TOTP)” field. For example, in the browser extension, it is located below the password field:
Many thanks! That’s clear.
I am very confused. Today I started with Bitwarden as I (and many others, I’m sure) are leaving or have left LastPass. I went straight to a premium account since I want a complete authenticator capability just as I have with LastPass. Bitwarden’s web site states that premium accounts have an authenticator. But nowhere does it state how to download it! And a search of Google Play store for my Android phone doesn’t show a Bitwarden Authenticator on a search for one. The Bitwarden support links in the forum’s posts links directly to a help article which obfuscates the process of putting TOTP codes into individual entries for sites, but I have no such entries when I set up a site on my Android Bitwarden app, such as my Google account login. What gives folks? Why hide this? If it’s available, say so and provide links to the Android and iOS apps (almost all other sites having an app do this for their users, why not Bitwarden?.)
Unlike LastPass, the Bitwarden Authenticator is not a spearate app — it is integrated directly into the Bitwarden password manager. One benefit of this is that when you autofill your username and password, Bitwarden automatically places the 6-digit TOTP code in the clipboard, and you can just paste it immediately into your login form.
See my response above for instructions about how to add a TOTP seed to a login item in your Bitwarden vault.
Not sure what you mean by “obfuscates” and “hide”. If you open the vault login item that you have set up for your Google account, and then go to edit this vault item (tap the 
pencil icon), what do you see directly below the username & password fields?
An additional benefit of Bitwarden’s approach, which integrates not only TOTP codes but also attachments into a login file, is their new Apple Watch authenticator integration, which allows you to quickly access codes. But, the auto clipboard of codes after you autofill, noted above, is also great.
Plus, because TOTP is integrated directly into the main app, when you use Export to back up your account, your TOTP keys are backed up as well.
I have also left LastPass after 12+ years and find Bitwarden more refined with more efficient workflows. Hope you enjoy it!
Are TOTP codes only available with the mobile app, or is it supposed to show up in the macOS app as well? I’m not seeing it on the macOS app.
Hey @southerndoc only the mobile app currently has a dedicated TOTP screen, for the desktop app, you can navigate to the item and copy the code from there.
Thanks @bw-admin. Are there any plans to allow the desktop apps to have this and sync everything? I know there is an option with the Chrome extension to right-click, choose Bitwarden, and then copy the verification code. Would be great if the desktop app had the code ability and there was an option to autofill the code (instead of just copying it).
Great question, currently we don’t have desktop auto-type/fill, but there is an open feature request for this one
I’m moving my Authy data into BW; all went well until one of the sites only provides a QR code, there isn’t any text key. How do I add that TOTP into my vault. (I’m using a chromebook, not a mobile app.)
@Lastblast Welcome tot he forum!
Take a screenshot, and then use https://scanapp.org/ to translate the QR to text (click the link that says “Scan an Image File”). You will get a result that looks something like the following:
otpauth://totp/Example:[email protected]?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&issuer=Example
In the above example, the TOTP Authentication Key is JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP (a 16-character string that starts right after secret=). Copy and paste this into the Bitwarden login item.