diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 96875a51d..552f4796d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -157,6 +157,21 @@ The `magento.test` above defines the hostname to use, and the `2.4.7` defines th
 
 After the one-liner above completes running, you should be able to access your site at `https://magento.test`.
 
+## Accessing the Magento Backend
+
+After successfully installing the Magento environment, you can access the backend by following these steps:
+
+1. Open your web browser and go to the following URL: `https://magento.test/admin/`.
+
+2. Use the following default credentials to log in:
+- **Username:** `john.smith`
+- **Password:** `password123`
+
+3. Upon logging in, you might be prompted to configure Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This emails you a code to log in with (which you can check with Mailcatcher by visiting `http://{yourdomain}:1080`). By default, the email address used for this purpose is:
+- **Email:** `john.smith@gmail.com`
+
+If you are testing in a local development environment and wish to disable 2FA, you can do so by installing [Mark's DisableTwoFactorAuth module](https://github.com/markshust/magento2-module-disabletwofactorauth).
+
 #### Install sample data
 
 After the above installation is complete, run the following lines to install sample data:
@@ -420,7 +435,7 @@ Copy `src/auth.json.sample` to `src/auth.json`. Then, update the username and pa
 
 ### Email / Mailcatcher
 
-View emails sent locally through Mailcatcher by visiting [http://{yourdomain}:1080](http://{yourdomain}:1080). During development, it's easiest to test emails using a third-party module such as [Mageplaza's SMTP module](https://github.com/mageplaza/magento-2-smtp). In order to use mailcatcher, set the mailserver host to `mailcatcher` and set port to `1025`. Note that this port is different from the mailcatcher interface to read the emails.
+View emails sent locally through Mailcatcher by visiting [http://{yourdomain}:1080](http://{yourdomain}:1080). In order to use mailcatcher, set the mailserver host to `mailcatcher` and set port to `1025`. Note that this port (`1025`) is different from the mailcatcher interface to read the emails (`1080`).
 
 ### Redis
 
diff --git a/compose/bin/setup b/compose/bin/setup
index 6cb747a29..3329b89eb 100755
--- a/compose/bin/setup
+++ b/compose/bin/setup
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -o errexit
+if [ -f "../env/magento.env" ]; then
+    source "../env/magento.env"
+else
+    echo "Warning: magento.env file not found."
+fi
 
 MEM_BYTES=$(docker info -f '{{.MemTotal}}')
 MEM_MB=$(( MEM_BYTES / 1000000 ))
@@ -53,3 +58,9 @@ cp -r .vscode src/
 
 echo "Docker development environment setup complete."
 echo "You may now access your Magento instance at https://${DOMAIN}/"
+
+echo "You may now access your Magento backend instance at https://${DOMAIN}/admin/"
+
+echo "Use the following default credentials to log in:"
+echo "Username: $MAGENTO_ADMIN_USER"
+echo "Password: $MAGENTO_ADMIN_PASSWORD"