Requiring two-factor authentication in your organization

About two-factor authentication for organizations

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an extra layer of security used when logging into websites or apps. You can require all members, outside collaborators, and billing managers in your organization to enable two-factor authentication on GitHub. For more information about two-factor authentication, see "Securing your account with two-factor authentication (2FA)."

You can also require two-factor authentication for organizations in an enterprise. For more information, see "Enforcing security settings in your enterprise account."

Prerequisites

Before you can require organization members, outside collaborators, and billing managers to use two-factor authentication, you must enable two-factor authentication for your account on GitHub. For more information, see "Securing your account with two-factor authentication (2FA)."

Before you require use of two-factor authentication, we recommend notifying organization members, outside collaborators, and billing managers and asking them to set up 2FA for their accounts. You can see if members and outside collaborators already use 2FA. For more information, see "Viewing whether users in your organization have 2FA enabled."

Requiring two-factor authentication in your organization

1. In the top right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo, then click Your organizations.

2. Next to the organization, click Settings.

3. In the left sidebar, click Organization security.

   

4. Under "Authentication", select Require two-factor authentication for everyone in your organization, then click Save.

5. If prompted, read the information about members and outside collaborators who will be removed from the organization. Type your organization's name to confirm the change, then click Remove members & require two-factor authentication.

6. If any members or outside collaborators are removed from the organization, we recommend sending them an invitation that can reinstate their former privileges and access to your organization. They must enable two-factor authentication before they can accept your invitation.

Viewing people who were removed from your organization

To view people who were automatically removed from your organization for non-compliance when you required two-factor authentication, you can search your organization's audit log for people removed from your organization. The audit log event will show if a person was removed for 2FA non-compliance.

1. In the top right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo, then click Your organizations.

2. Next to the organization, click Settings.

3. In the Settings sidebar, click Audit log.

4. Enter your search query. To search for:

   • Organization members removed, use action:org.remove_member in your search query
   • Outside collaborators removed, use action:org.remove_outside_collaborator in your search query
   • Billing managers removed, use action:org.remove_billing_managerin your search query

   You can also view people who were removed from your organization by using a time frame in your search.

Helping removed members and outside collaborators rejoin your organization

If any members or outside collaborators are removed from the organization when you enable required use of two-factor authentication, they'll receive an email notifying them that they've been removed. They should then enable 2FA for their personal account, and contact an organization owner to request access to your organization.

Further reading

• "Viewing whether users in your organization have 2FA enabled"
• "Securing your account with two-factor authentication (2FA)"
• "Reinstating a former member of your organization"
• "Reinstating a former outside collaborator's access to your organization"