Mobile remote setup fails with “Secure setup failed” when connecting to computer

I have the same issue. Happy to work through debugging...

Might be worth mentioning I have an email auth code step. I get the email and type in the code prior to getting the above error.

Also notable: I have an OTP code set up in 1password but that doesn't get accepted. I MUST do email flow.

I'm also getting this error message when attempting to link the iOS app to the Codex desktop app. I also wanted to point out there doesn't seem to be any way to delete a Codex app connection from the iOS app. It can be edited and disabled, but there's no remove. I thought I'd try restarting the process by deleting it, but I'm just stuck in this auth loop now.

I'm hitting this as well. In my case, things were working, and then I turned on Advanced Account Security. I tried turning that off, and I'm still not able to log in. I had the same thought as @adamstirtan to remove the connection in the iOS app, but I don't see a way to do that. I revoked access on the Codex desktop side, but that didn't help.

Edit: This started working again as of 2026-06-04. I no longer have this issue.

Hi everyone, im having the same issue

If anyone knows how to solve it, please let me know

I have been letting Codex deep thinking few hours still not working

im having the same issue If anyone knows how to solve it, please let me know. thanks

Me too😭

+1 me toooo

me too

Hi everyone,
I enabled multi-factor authentication (in my case with google authenticator) and it solved the issue for me,
hope this helps

me too

Hi everyone, I enabled multi-factor authentication (in my case with google authenticator) and it solved the issue for me, hope this helps

That worked, thanks

> Hi everyone, I enabled multi-factor authentication (in my case with google authenticator) and it solved the issue for me, hope this helps That worked, thanks

Sadly, it doesn't work for me.

Hi everyone, I enabled multi-factor authentication (in my case with google authenticator) and it solved the issue for me, hope this helps

This worked for me too. Thanks !

This does not work for me either. When I try to enable multi-factor authentication in in the app, it says "Authentication Error. OpenAI's services are not available in your country...".

Hi everyone, I enabled multi-factor authentication (in my case with google authenticator) and it solved the issue for me, hope this helps

Thanks! This also worked for me. I enabled the Authenticator app option and used iOS Passwords as the authenticator.

same, 2fa enabling does not work for me

Update: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/24328 fixed me
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I have the exact same issue; MFA doesn't work for me either.

I am also hitting this Secure setup failed / Couldn't finish secure setup path, with one extra clue: the failure appears after a previously working mobile pairing became stale.

Setup:

• Codex Desktop on Windows
• ChatGPT / Codex on iOS
• Same account on desktop and mobile
• The phone had successfully paired with this desktop before

What happened:

1. The phone/device entry was accidentally removed from Codex Desktop's Connections page.
2. The iOS app still kept the old Codex Desktop host record and shows it as disconnected/offline.
3. Codex Desktop now shows no devices under "Devices that can control this computer".
4. Generating a fresh QR code and scanning it from iOS does not create a clean new pairing.
5. The iOS flow lands on / reuses the old host record, then fails with: Setup failed / Couldn't finish secure setup. Try again.

This makes it look related to stale account-side or mobile-side host/enrollment state, rather than only the initial security setup flow. A visible "forget/remove this computer" action on iOS, or automatic invalidation of stale hosts after the desktop-side pairing is deleted, would likely unblock this case.

I opened a focused report for a Windows + iOS case that lands on this same Setup failed / Couldn't finish secure setup error after stale pairing state: #26535

In that case, the phone was deleted from the desktop-side paired-device list, but iOS retained the old offline host and fresh QR pairing could not recover.

using MFA, iPhone connected OK for some time now, iPad refuses to connect (setup failed),
please solve this, many people have this issue for weeks now!