authenticator app issue after changing to a new phone

Smith Sam 20 Reputation points
2026-08-10T00:25:06.01+00:00

I am a student and I recently changed to a new phone. I am now unable to sign in to my school account because Microsoft Authenticator is still linked to my old phone.

When I try to sign in, it asks me to verify my identity using the Authenticator app, but I no longer have access to my old phone.

How can I set up MFA on my new phone and regain access to my account?

Thank you for your help.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For education | Android
0 comments No comments

Answer accepted by question author
Darren Bruce 1,315 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-08-10T00:32:45.2233333+00:00

Dear @Smith Sam,

Based on your description, after you changed to your new phone, you are unable sign in to your account anymore because your authenticator app is linked to your old phone.

In this situation, the only effective solution is contact to your IT/admin of your school, since your account is a education account, your company IT team or Helpdesk may be able to reset your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) settings. This will allow you to reconfigure MFA from scratch on your new device. As a forum user, I do not have administrative access to change these settings. Only your IT team has the ability to adjust or reset your MFA configuration.

You can also refer to this Microsoft support article for more information: Manage authentication methods - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn  

I hope information above can help you resolve the issue as soon as possible, please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.


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

Was this answer helpful?

5 people found this answer helpful.

0 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.