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# Saving recovery codes and a recovery email address for two-step verification

> How to regain access to your account if you cannot reach your phone.

## Recovery codes

Immediately after enabling two-step verification, you will see the ‘Save your recovery codes’ screen displaying ten codes. Each code can be used once to log in when you do not have access to your phone. Click ‘Copy all codes’, ‘Download as text file’ or ‘Print codes’, tick the box to confirm that you have saved them safely, and click ‘Continue to Laposta’.

> **Warning**
>
> You will only see a set of recovery codes once. Keep them in a safe place, such as in your password manager.

Later, under Login → Two-step verification → ‘Manage recovery codes’, you can view how many codes you have left and when they were created. Click ‘Create new recovery codes’ to generate a new set. Your old codes will then expire.

If you log in using a recovery code, two-step verification remains enabled. Once you log in with it, you will see a message stating that a recovery code was used, along with the number of codes you have left.

## Recovery email address

Two-step verification requires a mandatory recovery email address. This must be a different address from your login email address. You enter it as soon as you set up two-step verification. If you already had two-step verification enabled without a recovery email address, Laposta will ask for it the next time you log in, and you will not be able to skip this step. Without this address and without recovery codes, you will no longer be able to access your account yourself if you lose your phone.

You will receive a verification code at the specified address to confirm it. This code is valid for ten minutes. You can change the address later via Login → Two-step verification → ‘Manage recovery email address’.

With the recovery email address, [you can reset two-step verification yourself](/problemen-met-tweestapsverificatie#you-have-no-recovery-codes-left-either) if you can no longer access your phone and your recovery codes. Although the button on the login screen is called ‘Log in with your recovery email address’, you cannot actually log in using this address.

> **Warning**
>
> You cannot log in with the recovery email address; you can only use it to reset two-step verification. You can only start this reset after passing the first step using your login email address and password. After the reset, you must set a new password via an email sent to your login email address. This means you still need your password, as well as access to the inbox you use to log in.

If you work for an association, foundation or another type of board, set both your login email address and your recovery email address to an address belonging to the organisation itself, such as the secretariat's address or a shared board address. If the login is set to the private address of a single board member and that person steps down, you will no longer have access to the inbox where the new password is sent. Having only the recovery email address will not be enough in that case.