Connect an account from your phone (scan a QR code)

Most people are signed in to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube on their phone, not on the computer. So every account that connects with a sign-in (Facebook, Instagram, Threads (coming soon), LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Business Profile, and Microsoft 365 or Gmail mailboxes) can be connected from your phone while you work on the computer.

TikTok is different: it has its own QR code, scanned with the TikTok app. On a computer, Connect on TikTok opens a window with that QR code and Sign in with TikTok; on a phone it goes straight to Sign in with TikTok, with no QR code (see Connect TikTok).

The connect window

On Set up → Accounts (address /app/channels), click a platform's tile or + Connect another; in the setup wizard, click Connect on a platform in the step Connect a channel. The window Connect plus the platform name opens, with two options side by side:

• 1 Scan with your phone: a QR code, and under it one line that says where it is: Waiting for you to scan (with the minutes left), Scanned. Finish on your phone., Signed in. Choose the accounts to connect., Connected: and the account name, This code has expired. or Not connected: and the reason.
• 2 Sign in on this computer: the button Sign in with plus the account you sign in with (Sign in with Facebook for Facebook and Instagram, Sign in with Google for YouTube and Google Business Profile) opens the sign-in window on the computer, as before.

Need help? at the bottom opens this article. On a phone the window does not open: Connect goes straight to the sign-in as before, because you cannot scan your own screen.

Step by step: connect from your phone

1. On the computer, open Set up → Accounts and click the platform's tile (or + Connect another on its card).
2. Open your phone's camera and point it at the QR code. Tap the link that appears.
3. The phone opens the page Connect [platform] to [workspace]? Under it, Code made by shows who made the code (their email address with most letters hidden) in the organisation [organisation], and the warning Only continue if you just pressed Connect on your own computer. Check that the workspace and the organisation are yours, then tap Continue. (Cancel connects nothing.) You do not need to be logged in to OmniBrand on the phone.
4. The platform's own sign-in opens on the phone (often straight in its app). Sign in if asked and approve OmniBrand.
5. The phone shows Done. Go back to your computer. The computer's window now says Connected: and the account name, and the account appears on Accounts with a message at the bottom of the screen. Click Close to close the window.
6. If the sign-in reached more than one account (several Pages, locations or channels), the computer's window says Signed in. Choose the accounts to connect. and the window Choose which accounts to connect opens on the computer. Tick the accounts and click Connect selected (see The Accounts page: connecting an account).

If something goes wrong

• This code has expired.: a code works for 5 minutes and only once. Click Show a new code and scan again. After a scan, Show a new code is there too, for when you stop on the phone and want to start again.
• On the phone, This code has expired or was already used.: the code was used or is too old. On the computer, click Show a new code and scan the new one.
• The computer's window goes from Scanned. Finish on your phone. to This code has expired.: the sign-in on the phone was not finished in time. Click Show a new code and scan again.
• On the phone, This phone is signed in to a different OmniBrand organisation than the one this code is for. Nothing was connected.: you are logged in to OmniBrand on this phone with another organisation than the one that made the code. Connect from your own computer, or log out of OmniBrand on the phone and scan the code again.
• Not connected: and a reason (for example Sign-in was cancelled. Nothing was connected.): the phone shows The account was not connected. Your computer shows why and what to do. Fix what the reason says, click Show a new code and try again, or use Sign in with [platform] on the computer.
• Your plan's account limit, your role and the workspace are checked again when you tap Continue, so the phone never connects more than you could connect on the computer.

Keep it safe

The QR code lets whoever scans it connect THEIR account to YOUR workspace for 5 minutes, once. Do not send a photo or screenshot of it to anyone. The phone page always shows who made the code and in which organisation: if that is not you, or someone sent you the code, tap Cancel on the phone. If an account you do not know appears on Accounts, click Disconnect on its row.