How do I transfer my Authenticator to a new phone device

Question

How do I transfer my Authenticator to a new phone device

Dr Paul Annells 10

Moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office / Office Online Server

Shadowborn 0 Reputation points

2026-02-21T04:06:07.9833333+00:00

Signed into the recovery account and nothing is showing. The only account is the sign in account.
Jade Ng 11,750 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-23T06:00:25.3633333+00:00
Dear @Shadowborn,

If you are experiencing the same issue as the original poster, please help me with the following information so I can assist you more effectively:

Are you using a work/school account or a personal account?

At which step are you currently getting stuck?

If possible, please attach a screenshot of the issue you are encountering. This will help me better understand the situation and provide more accurate guidance.

Thank you for your cooperation.

3 answers

Your answer

Shadowborn 0 Reputation points

2026-02-21T04:06:07.9833333+00:00

Signed into the recovery account and nothing is showing. The only account is the sign in account.
Jade Ng 11,750 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-23T06:00:25.3633333+00:00

Dear @Shadowborn,

If you are experiencing the same issue as the original poster, please help me with the following information so I can assist you more effectively:

Are you using a work/school account or a personal account?

At which step are you currently getting stuck?

If possible, please attach a screenshot of the issue you are encountering. This will help me better understand the situation and provide more accurate guidance.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Answer 1

Jade Ng 11,750 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @Dr Paul Annells,

Good day. Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum!

Based on your description, please allow me to provide some information:

Transfer your data from one phone to another, you need to back up the existing phone's MFA data. To move your authenticator app and configure accounts without losing data, please follow these steps below and check if it works:

1.On your old phone:

Open the Microsoft Authenticator app.
Tap the three vertical dots in the top-right corner, then select "Settings".
In the "Backup" section, turn on Cloud Backup (on Android) or iCloud Backup (on iPhone). This will back up your data to the account you used to set up the authenticator.

2.On your new phone:

Install and open the Microsoft Authenticator app.
Navigate to the recovery tool and select "Already have a backup? Sign in to your recovery account".
Sign in with the Microsoft account you used for the backup on your old phone.
Your accounts will automatically be restored in Microsoft Authenticator on your new device.

Note: Some accounts may require revalidation to confirm your identity. This could involve signing in to those accounts or scanning a QR code. Microsoft Authenticator will display a message if revalidation is needed.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to reply below if you have any update or further concern.

Your understanding and co-operation are highly appreciated. I am looking forward to your response!

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Jade Ng 11,750 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-08T06:38:12.5566667+00:00

Dear @Dr Paul Annells,

I hope you are doing well!

Could you kindly confirm if there have been any recent updates on your side? Please let me know if you are still encountering any difficulties so I can assist promptly.

Thank you for your cooperation. Looking forward to hearing from you!
abdulkadir sugal 0 Reputation points

2026-02-26T01:49:15.5+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your response. I have both my old and new devices, but after setting up the new device, my MFA data did not transfer. Restoring on the old device also did not work. Every login still requests approval from the Authenticator app.

I cannot receive any recovery email, and all support channels require signing in, which is impossible while my account is locked. I am a Global Admin, and this situation is causing significant disruption.

I urgently request direct live support to regain access and recover MFA data.

Thank you for your understanding.
Jade Ng 11,750 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-26T06:51:29.52+00:00
Dear @abdulkadir sugal,

Could you please tell me is there any other global administrator in your organization?

If so, I recommend you contact your IT admin/Global admin to raise a request for resetting your authentication method in the Entra admin center.

Other admins can revoke MFA sessions and require re-registration in Microsoft Entra admin center. For step-by-step details, refer to the official Microsoft documentation: Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn

But if you are the only admin and cannot access your account due to an authentication issue, it is suggested to contact the Data Protection team as we are from the community team and are not authorized to reset any user/admin accounts. The data protection team is the only support team to verify and reset the account.

In this case, the best course of action is to contact Data Protection directly.

For a full list of regional numbers, you can also visit this official page: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support. The support team will assist you as soon as possible.

If you can reach Microsoft by phone, use the official Global Customer Service phone numbers list. Choose your region > your country > if your country lines fail or lack English support, select a nearby country (e.g., Singapore) or the United States number, Microsoft explicitly allows this.

If you have already tried the customer service phone numbers without success, you can try setting up a new trial tenant and submitting your support request:

1.Visit the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans page: Go to Compare Office 365 Enterprise Pricing and Plans | Microsoft 365.

2.Choose a plan and start a free trial: Select any of the available plans and click "Try for free" to begin the trial setup process.

3.Follow the guided setup: Complete the steps to create a new Microsoft account and a new tenant. This will be a separate and independent Microsoft 365 environment.

4.Access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center: Once the new tenant is created, navigate to https://admin.microsoft.com/AdminPortal/Home#/homepage

5.Go to Support: In the left-hand navigation menu, click on "Support" and then "Help & support."

6.Raise a support ticket: Describe your issue in detail. Crucially, you must clearly state that you are locked out of a different, pre-existing Microsoft 365 tenant where you are the administrator. Provide the following information about your locked account:

Your administrator account email address for the tenant.

The domain name of your tenant

Any error messages you are receiving.

Details about the issues you are experiencing (e.g., being charged even after canceling the service)

Confirmation that you are the administrator of the tenant.

7.Submit your ticket:

Follow the prompts to submit your support request. You will likely receive a ticket number for tracking.

Important notes:

This new trial tenant will not give you access to any of the data or settings in your original locked tenant. It is solely a temporary means to contact Microsoft support.

Be prepared for Microsoft support to ask for verification of your identity and administrative rights for the locked tenant.

The resolution time might be longer as you are contacting support from a different tenant.

Remember to cancel the trial subscription for the new tenant once your issue with the original account is resolved to avoid any unintended charges. You can typically do this within the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under "Billing" > "Your products."

I hope these steps will help resolve your issue. If you need further assistance, I am always here to help.

Answer 2

AI answer

To transfer your Microsoft Authenticator app to a new phone, follow these steps:

Set up recovery settings on your old device:
- Open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your old phone.
- Go to Settings and turn on iCloud backup. This will back up your account credentials to your iCloud account.
Install the Authenticator app on your new device:
- Download and install the Microsoft Authenticator app from the App Store on your new phone.
Restore your backup on the new device:
- Open the Authenticator app on your new phone and tap Begin recovery.
- Sign in with your personal Microsoft account to restore your allowed MFA credentials and saved passwords.
Set up two-step verification:
- After restoring, you may need to register and set up multifactor authentication (MFA) on your new device to gain access to your work accounts.

Make sure not to remove the Authenticator app from your old device until you have successfully set up your new device to avoid losing access to your accounts.

AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

Answer 3

David Martin 0

These instructions worked for me but with one additional step:

On the old phone, the cloud backup was very old. I had to disable cloud backup and then re-enable it to force a fresh backup, then the given procedure worked

Jade Ng 11,750 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-21T02:47:16.9266667+00:00

Dear @David Martin,

Thank you very much for sharing your update. I’m really glad to hear that the solution worked for you.

I also truly appreciate your additional input regarding the extra-step disabling and re-enabling cloud backup on the old device to trigger a fresh backup. This is very helpful and can make a significant difference for others who may encounter the same issue.

Thank you again for taking the time to contribute your experience. It is greatly valued.

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How do I transfer my Authenticator to a new phone device

3 answers

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