How to reactivate my Microsoft authenticator app

Question

How to reactivate my Microsoft authenticator app

haseeb ullah khan 20

As i have unis talled the microsoft authenticator app, now after login they ask me for authenticator code, which does not show up as i am logged out from authenticator app. And there is no other way of sign in. Kimdly helped through this .y email is work or school email that is "[Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed]@uvas.edu.pk". Kindly helpe through this

Beena Faraz 0 Reputation points

2026-06-19T11:50:57.6233333+00:00
You cannot fix this yourself because it is a school account.

Because your email belongs to your university (@uvas.edu.pk), only your university's IT department can reset your login settings.

What you need to do:

Visit the UVAS IT Center in person (bring your university ID), or call the university exchange; and ask for the IT Department.

Tell them: "I uninstalled my Microsoft Authenticator app and I am locked out of my account. Please reset my MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) settings."

Once they reset it from their office, you will be able to log in normally and scan a new QR code to set up your app again.

Answer accepted by question author

Liora D 18,910 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @haseeb ullah khan,

I hope you’re having a good day.

I understand that you uninstalled Microsoft Authenticator and are now unable to sign in because your university account is asking for an authentication code that you can no longer access.

Please understand that your account is a school account, which means it is managed by your university rather than by Microsoft directly. As a community moderator, I do not have access to your school's Microsoft 365 tenant or authentication settings, so I cannot reset or modify MFA methods on your behalf.

In this situation, I recommend contacting your university's IT Help Desk or Microsoft 365 administrator. Your school's administrator can typically reset your MFA registration or require you to re-register Microsoft Authenticator on your device. In most cases, once you are able to reach the IT team, this type of issue can be resolved relatively quickly.

Please don't worry, this is a common situation when an Authenticator app is removed, a phone is changed, or a device is reset. The university IT administrator is normally the correct team to help restore access.

Your administrator can follow the guidance in the following article: Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multi-factor authentication

If you’re unsure who your administrator is, this article may help: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin?

User's image

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction. If you run into any issues while trying the steps, or if something still doesn’t feel quite right, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. I’ll do my best to support you however I can.

Warm regards,

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-20T14:42:03.77+00:00

Hi haseeb ullah khan,

I just wanted to follow up to see how things are going with the information I shared above. I truly hope it was helpful and brought you closer to resolving the issue.

If you’ve had a chance to review it and have any updates, questions, or if you ran into any difficulties along the way, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m more than happy to assist further if needed.

It would be great to hear back from you!

Warm regards,

Liora.
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T11:57:14.7833333+00:00

No , my problem is not solved . I have contacted UNIVERSITY IT Department but they say that we can't reset your MFA .

Please help me through this .

As i am in need of this microsoft account .

Thank you so much Liora for follow up .
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T12:01:09.98+00:00

Moreover , i wanted to say that i have a logged in teams account , but i want to log it into laptop , its asking for authenticator code . That is uninstalled . And when i ihave installed MS Authenticator, and logged in , it again says to enter authenticator code , which i dont have !!!

Confused , what i have to do ?
Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T13:20:29.71+00:00
Hi @haseeb ullah khan,

Thank you for the update.

I'm very sorry to hear that you're still unable to access your account.

Because this is a school account, your university is the only organization that has administrative control over your account and MFA settings. For that reason, your university's IT department is still the correct place to contact regarding this issue.

Could you please share the following article with your university administrator and ask them to review it?

Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multi-factor authentication

Could you also let me know exactly what your university IT department told you when they said they "can't reset your MFA"?

Did they say they do not have administrator access?

Did they say MFA is managed by another organization?

Did they provide any specific reason why they cannot perform the reset?

If your university's Microsoft 365 environment is managed by a third-party provider and the university staff do not have permission to reset MFA themselves, I would still encourage you to contact the university IT department again. In that situation, they would normally need to work with the organization that manages their Microsoft 365 tenant and request assistance on your behalf.

I understand that it may feel frustrating to contact the university multiple times without having the issue resolved yet. However, you are absolutely doing the right thing. Since this is a university-managed account, the university remains responsible for managing student accounts and coordinating any account recovery requests, so please don't hesitate to continue following up with them.

I sincerely hope you regain access to your account soon.

Thank you, and I wish you all the best. Please keep me updated if you receive any new information from your university or if anything changes.
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T13:58:44.1666667+00:00

As it is also controlled by third party , which is HEC , they told me you have to contact them . So i also have sent emails to them . But still i dont have any reply from them . So , i will go to university IT Department tomorrow again for this.

Thank you so much for following up .
Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T15:16:25.5333333+00:00

Hi haseeb ullah khan,

Thank you very much for the update.

The additional information you shared is actually very helpful.

I sincerely hope your visit to the IT department tomorrow helps move things forward and that they are able to coordinate with HEC to restore access to your account.

In the meantime, if you receive any update from the university or HEC, please feel free to share it here. I would be happy to review the information and help you understand the next steps if needed.

Also, if my previous responses have helped you better understand the situation and guided you toward a possible next step, please consider marking one of them as the Accepted Answer. Doing so will pin the thread near the top, making it easier for other users facing a similar MFA lockout scenario to find the discussion and benefit from the information already shared.

Thank you again for keeping us updated, and I truly hope you regain access to your account soon.

Kind regards.

1 additional answer

Your answer

Beena Faraz 0 Reputation points

2026-06-19T11:50:57.6233333+00:00

You cannot fix this yourself because it is a school account.

Because your email belongs to your university (@uvas.edu.pk), only your university's IT department can reset your login settings.

What you need to do:

Visit the UVAS IT Center in person (bring your university ID), or call the university exchange; and ask for the IT Department.

Tell them: "I uninstalled my Microsoft Authenticator app and I am locked out of my account. Please reset my MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) settings."

Once they reset it from their office, you will be able to log in normally and scan a new QR code to set up your app again.
Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-20T14:42:03.77+00:00

Hi haseeb ullah khan,

I just wanted to follow up to see how things are going with the information I shared above. I truly hope it was helpful and brought you closer to resolving the issue.

If you’ve had a chance to review it and have any updates, questions, or if you ran into any difficulties along the way, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m more than happy to assist further if needed.

It would be great to hear back from you!

Warm regards,

Liora.
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T11:57:14.7833333+00:00

No , my problem is not solved . I have contacted UNIVERSITY IT Department but they say that we can't reset your MFA .

Please help me through this .

As i am in need of this microsoft account .

Thank you so much Liora for follow up .
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T12:01:09.98+00:00

Moreover , i wanted to say that i have a logged in teams account , but i want to log it into laptop , its asking for authenticator code . That is uninstalled . And when i ihave installed MS Authenticator, and logged in , it again says to enter authenticator code , which i dont have !!!

Confused , what i have to do ?
Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T13:20:29.71+00:00

Hi @haseeb ullah khan,

Thank you for the update.

I'm very sorry to hear that you're still unable to access your account.

Because this is a school account, your university is the only organization that has administrative control over your account and MFA settings. For that reason, your university's IT department is still the correct place to contact regarding this issue.

Could you please share the following article with your university administrator and ask them to review it?

Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multi-factor authentication

Could you also let me know exactly what your university IT department told you when they said they "can't reset your MFA"?

Did they say they do not have administrator access?

Did they say MFA is managed by another organization?

Did they provide any specific reason why they cannot perform the reset?

If your university's Microsoft 365 environment is managed by a third-party provider and the university staff do not have permission to reset MFA themselves, I would still encourage you to contact the university IT department again. In that situation, they would normally need to work with the organization that manages their Microsoft 365 tenant and request assistance on your behalf.

I understand that it may feel frustrating to contact the university multiple times without having the issue resolved yet. However, you are absolutely doing the right thing. Since this is a university-managed account, the university remains responsible for managing student accounts and coordinating any account recovery requests, so please don't hesitate to continue following up with them.

I sincerely hope you regain access to your account soon.

Thank you, and I wish you all the best. Please keep me updated if you receive any new information from your university or if anything changes.
haseeb ullah khan 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T13:58:44.1666667+00:00

As it is also controlled by third party , which is HEC , they told me you have to contact them . So i also have sent emails to them . But still i dont have any reply from them . So , i will go to university IT Department tomorrow again for this.

Thank you so much for following up .
Liora D 18,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T15:16:25.5333333+00:00

Hi haseeb ullah khan,

Thank you very much for the update.

The additional information you shared is actually very helpful.

I sincerely hope your visit to the IT department tomorrow helps move things forward and that they are able to coordinate with HEC to restore access to your account.

In the meantime, if you receive any update from the university or HEC, please feel free to share it here. I would be happy to review the information and help you understand the next steps if needed.

Also, if my previous responses have helped you better understand the situation and guided you toward a possible next step, please consider marking one of them as the Accepted Answer. Doing so will pin the thread near the top, making it easier for other users facing a similar MFA lockout scenario to find the discussion and benefit from the information already shared.

Thank you again for keeping us updated, and I truly hope you regain access to your account soon.

Kind regards.

Answer 1

Because the Microsoft Authenticator app was uninstalled and there is no other sign-in method configured, the current registration must be reset or recovered. For a work or school account, this cannot be done directly in the app; it must be handled through the organization or Microsoft support.

Follow these steps:

Try restoring Authenticator (if backup exists)
- Reinstall Microsoft Authenticator on the same type of device (Android or iOS as before).
- Open the app and use the backup/recovery options:
  - On Android: select Restore from backup or Begin recovery before signing in.
  - On iOS: ensure iCloud backup was enabled, then reinstall and sign in so accounts can restore.
- After restore, for work or school accounts only the account name is restored; sign-in must be completed again in the app when prompted.
If restore does not work or no backup exists
- For work or school accounts, only the account name is backed up and a full restore of MFA codes is not possible. In this case, the account must be re-registered for MFA.
- Contact the organization’s IT/Help desk or administrator and request an MFA reset for the work or school account. They can clear existing authentication methods so the account can be set up again in Authenticator.
If unable to restore or get IT help
- If restoration fails for any reason, accounts can be added again in Authenticator once IT or the admin resets MFA and allows re-registration.

If sign-in attempts have been made repeatedly and are now blocked, wait and then try again or use another MFA method if the organization has configured one. If malicious activity is suspected, contact the IT administrator so they can review Microsoft Entra sign-in logs.

References: