Managing Phone Changes in Your Duo Account
Before you begin
During winter and summer breaks, many of our students return to their home country. Often, this involves switching phones or SIM cards to a local number. And then when they return to the US, they switch back to a local phone or SIM card.
Unfortunately, this often leaves students unable to log into their CCA account because their Duo 2-factor account is associated with a phone number that is no longer active. Resolving this issue requires a all to the Help Desk, which can be a challenge due to limited availability (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, closed over the winter break).
If you will be changing your phone or SIM card for travel, we strongly encourage you to use one of these methods to avoid problems accessing your CCA account over winter break or once back in the US. For all of these options, you need to complete the steps PRIOR to leaving the country where your active phone is currently registered with Duo.
Option 1: Add your new phone as a new device while you still have access to your old phone.
If this is an option for you, it’s easy to add a second phone number to your Duo account so that either number can be used to authenticate. Follow this guide to register a new device.
PLEASE NOTE that China-based phone numbers (+86) appear to be having issues receiving phone calls from Duo. If using a +86 phone number, we strongly recommend setting Duo up to use the Duo mobile app instead of a phone call.
IMPORTANT: You will need to FIRST authenticate into Duo with an existing device on your account, and then you’ll be able to add a new phone. So this option only works if BOTH phones are active at the same time.
Option 2: Add a Platform Authenticator as a second Duo device.
This option only works on devices that have one of these authentication methods builtin. These include Touch ID on Mac, Face ID on an iPhone, Windows Hello, and Android biometrics.
NOTE: We discourage people from relying ONLY on one of these methods, as it does not work in some situations, e.g. on your phone, when using VPN. However, it can work as a bridge that allows you to add a new phone number after you change countries.
To add one of these platform authenticators as a second Duo device, use a device that you will have available to you after you change countries:
- Follow steps to register an additional device in your Duo account
- Select from from the list of options that are available on the device you are using
- Follow Duo's steps for adding a platform authenticator as a registered device. These instructions include Touch ID on Mac, Face ID on an iPhone or iPad, Windows Hello, and Android Biometrics.
Once a platform authenticator is added and you change countries/phone numbers, you can authenticate into your Duo account using the same platform authenticator, and then add your new phone as a new device.
We DO NOT RECOMMEND using a platform authenticator as the only device in your Duo account. These authenticators only work on the specific device and browser that you registered with, or that support that authenticator, which is very limited. There are some situations where a platform authenticator will not work, such as when logging in on another device or when logging into CCA VPN. If you would like to use a platform authenticator, be sure that you also have a mobile phone set up with your Duo account to use when that is not an option.
Option 3: Purchase and set up a Security Key
If you cannot use either of the above options, you can purchase a security key and add it to your Duo account. A security key is a physical device that plugs into your computer, and can be used INSTEAD of a phone to authenticate with Duo.
- This is a low-cost security key that we have verified works well with Duo. It relies on a USB-C port on your computer. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVNRXFHT
- Once you have the security key, you can:
- Follow steps to register an additional device in your Duo account
- Select 'Security key' from the list of device options
- Follow Duo's steps for adding a security key as a registered device
After you change countries/phone numbers, you can use the security key on your computer to log into your Duo account, and add your new phone number as an additional device.
A security key will ONLY work when logging in on your laptop, so will not work in some situations. We recommend adding a security key as a second device, in addition to a mobile phone number.
If you have any questions about these options, please reach out to the Help Desk at helpdesk@cca.edu. The Help Desk is available Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm.
PLEASE NOTE: the Help Desk will be closed over the winter break, Dec 23 to Jan 7.