Help! No longer able to access my Personal Vault on my MacBook

Question

Help! No longer able to access my Personal Vault on my MacBook

Daniel Fortin 10

Hello!

Since a few days, I cannot open my Personal Vault on my MacBook Pro. After authenticating, I simple get a message saying "unlockrequired" followed by a long hexadecimal correlation id. Meanwhile, it still works on my iPhone 16.

Here's what I tried so far:

Tried with different browsers (Chrome, Safari) : No change
Cleared my browser cache: No change
Tried using a private session : No change
Tried from a new user account on my Mac: No change
Lastly, I tried accessing my Personal Vault from my wife's Windows Surface laptop, and it still does'nt work (always the same error).
Yesterday, when trying, I was occasionaly connecting. ie. one out of every 5-6 connection attempts. Today, nothing! I was once able to connect and see my files, but got a "Not allowed" message when trying to open one of the files.
It does not seen to be a security issue. It goes through the authentication steps correctly (tried using fingerprint, another device, etc.). If after that step that it displays the error screen.
I verified my Microsoft account and the Personal Vault access methods. I deleted and reenable most of them. Nothing changes...

I'm out of solutions! I think I tried everything I possibly could.

Thanks for helping!

[Moderator Note: Personal Info Removed]

Daniel Fortin 10 Reputation points

2026-07-25T13:24:09.3766667+00:00

Thanks! I contacted support... They reffered me to OneDrive support. Waiting for a response (Chat not available wit OneDrive support).
Ian-T 11,135 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-27T06:47:26.7866667+00:00

Thank you Daniel Fortin for the response. Please feel free to keep us updated
Daniel Fortin 10 Reputation points

2026-07-27T13:01:19.6833333+00:00

I have a support ticket open with the OneDrive support team.

They suggested I change my Microsoft Office Password, which would refresh the account's security credentials. After doing so, the problem persists... So waiting for the next steps :-/

Thanks.
Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-28T00:54:16.0366667+00:00

Hello Daniel Fortin

Thanks for keeping us updated. It is unfortunate that refreshing the account credentials did not fix the Personal Vault access issue.

At this stage, you have already completed the appropriate troubleshooting, so following up through your existing OneDrive support ticket is the right course of action. Please keep the correlation ID and the time of any new failed attempts available for the support team.

Hopefully, they can identify the cause and restore access soon.

Answer recommended by moderator

Daniel Fortin 10

Update:

Nothing the OneDrive support team gave me would solve the problem... In the end, after several hours trying all sorts of combinations, I...

Deleted the keys associated to Microsoft in the Mac's Key Store (for TouchID)
Dissociated the account from Microsoft Authenticator
Erased Email and SMS 2-way login settings

...until I could only login using my Microsoft Account password (which was also changed).

Once logged-in using Password, I reconfigured authentication using Microsoft Authenticator. Reconfigured email and SMS 2-way authentication. I did not reconfigure TouchID authentication.

And somehow, everything started to work correctly. On both Chrome and Safari. On both my MacBook and my wife's Microsoft Surface. It's been OK for 4-5 days now...

Keeping my fingers crossed... ;-)

Cheers,

Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-04T01:13:13.2933333+00:00

Hi Daniel Fortin

Great news, and thank you for returning with such a detailed update.

I’m glad Personal Vault has continued working across both devices and browsers.

Your findings may help others experiencing the same unlockRequired error. Since removing authentication methods can temporarily affect account access, anyone trying a similar approach should first ensure they know their Microsoft account password and still have a working recovery method.

Thanks again for sharing the solution with the community. Hopefully, everything continues working normally!

1 additional answer

Your answer

Daniel Fortin 10 Reputation points

2026-07-25T13:24:09.3766667+00:00

Thanks! I contacted support... They reffered me to OneDrive support. Waiting for a response (Chat not available wit OneDrive support).
Ian-T 11,135 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-27T06:47:26.7866667+00:00

Thank you Daniel Fortin for the response. Please feel free to keep us updated
Daniel Fortin 10 Reputation points

2026-07-27T13:01:19.6833333+00:00

I have a support ticket open with the OneDrive support team.

They suggested I change my Microsoft Office Password, which would refresh the account's security credentials. After doing so, the problem persists... So waiting for the next steps :-/

Thanks.
Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-28T00:54:16.0366667+00:00

Hello Daniel Fortin

Thanks for keeping us updated. It is unfortunate that refreshing the account credentials did not fix the Personal Vault access issue.

At this stage, you have already completed the appropriate troubleshooting, so following up through your existing OneDrive support ticket is the right course of action. Please keep the correlation ID and the time of any new failed attempts available for the support team.

Hopefully, they can identify the cause and restore access soon.
Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-04T01:13:13.2933333+00:00

Hi Daniel Fortin

Great news, and thank you for returning with such a detailed update.

I’m glad Personal Vault has continued working across both devices and browsers.

Your findings may help others experiencing the same unlockRequired error. Since removing authentication methods can temporarily affect account access, anyone trying a similar approach should first ensure they know their Microsoft account password and still have a working recovery method.

Thanks again for sharing the solution with the community. Hopefully, everything continues working normally!

Answer 1

Hello Daniel Fortin

Thank you for listing everything you have tried.

Since Personal Vault still opens on your iPhone, I recommend temporarily downloading or copying any urgently needed files to a regular OneDrive folder while access remains available.

As the same unlockRequired error occurs across different browsers, user profiles, and computers after authentication completes, this appears to require an account-specific investigation rather than additional troubleshooting on your Mac.

Please contact Microsoft Support for further assistance about this issue:

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.

Open a website link - Contact - Microsoft Support
In the box below "We're here to help", type Microsoft 365, click "Get Help", and then click "Contact Support" below.
In this section, you will need to sign in to your Microsoft account.
Select "Microsoft 365 and Office" under Products & Services, select "Technical Support" as the category, and click to confirm
You can select " Chat with a support agent in your web browser " to access the chat window.

Provide the support agent with:

The complete correlation ID
The exact date and time the error occurred, including your time zone
A screenshot of the error with personal information hidden
Confirmation that it fails on both macOS and Windows browsers but still works on your iPhone
The Microsoft account used for OneDrive

For now, avoid disabling or removing Personal Vault, and do not post the correlation ID or account address publicly.

I hope support can help restore normal browser access soon.

Have a nice day.