Azure reset MFA not working

Question

Azure reset MFA not working

t4t 1

We have an account signed in to Azure that deleted their account from Microsoft Authenticator. Now when trying to access Azure portal they are prompted for a code from the authenticator but they cannot provide it. We tried clicking on "Require re-register multifactor authentication" and also "Revoke multifactor authenticator sessions" but they are still prompted for a code through the app.

We have tried to enable an SMS or Email options for getting the code but these do not seem to work either.

Ravi Kanth Koppala 3,391 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2022-12-19T11:34:05.893+00:00
@t4t ,
If you are unable to access the Azure portal because you have deleted the Microsoft Authenticator app and are unable to receive codes, there are a few options you can try:

If you have access to a different device with the Microsoft Authenticator app installed, you can try signing in with that device to receive the code.

If you do not have access to another device with the Microsoft Authenticator app, you can try using a phone call as the second authentication method. You can do this by going to the Azure portal, clicking on your account in the top right corner, and selecting "Security & Privacy" from the dropdown menu. Then, click on "Multi-Factor Authentication", and under "Methods", click "Add Method" and select "Phone Call".

If neither of the above options is possible, you may need to contact Azure support to reset your multi-factor authentication. You can do this by going to the Azure portal, clicking on the "Help + Support" button in the top right corner, and selecting "New support request".

It's also a good idea to set up a backup method for multi-factor authentication in case you encounter this issue. This way, you will have an alternative way to receive the code if you cannot use the Microsoft Authenticator app.
t4t 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T12:18:19.587+00:00

That was promising, but when i tried getting into my Security details it asks me to verify through the MFA.... I have to point out that i am already signed in from a previous session where i actually had selected the "keep me signed in" option. This is also strange cause when i login as an admin i have (supposedly) revoked this account's access....

Also the third option of contacted support seems to be garbage (the support , not your suggestion of which i am grateful no matter if it worked or not ) as the options it gives me were automated and totally unrelated. Well, it did give a couple of links one of which was the learn.microsoft.com which i am already using to troubleshoot.
Cameron Rushing 0 Reputation points

2025-05-22T18:01:55.9166667+00:00

I am having a similar situation. I am a service tech trying to help a client, they had a change in management and when trying to sign into the admin .onmicrosoft.com account it requests the code from the auth app. The Auth app is currently with the previous manager and they are not available to constantly give the code. However we were able to get them do the sign in and went to change the MFA, the MFA showed as disabled, which is weird because it requested a code from the auth app. Anyway, I enabled the MFA and selected to have the mfa info be resubmitted, but when we went to sign in again it went back to the auth app even though i made sure the changed settings were saved. Is there a work around? Or am I now having to call microsoft to see if they will reset it for me?

1 answer

Your answer

Ravi Kanth Koppala 3,391 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2022-12-19T11:34:05.893+00:00

@t4t ,
If you are unable to access the Azure portal because you have deleted the Microsoft Authenticator app and are unable to receive codes, there are a few options you can try:

If you have access to a different device with the Microsoft Authenticator app installed, you can try signing in with that device to receive the code.

If you do not have access to another device with the Microsoft Authenticator app, you can try using a phone call as the second authentication method. You can do this by going to the Azure portal, clicking on your account in the top right corner, and selecting "Security & Privacy" from the dropdown menu. Then, click on "Multi-Factor Authentication", and under "Methods", click "Add Method" and select "Phone Call".

If neither of the above options is possible, you may need to contact Azure support to reset your multi-factor authentication. You can do this by going to the Azure portal, clicking on the "Help + Support" button in the top right corner, and selecting "New support request".

It's also a good idea to set up a backup method for multi-factor authentication in case you encounter this issue. This way, you will have an alternative way to receive the code if you cannot use the Microsoft Authenticator app.
t4t 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T12:18:19.587+00:00

That was promising, but when i tried getting into my Security details it asks me to verify through the MFA.... I have to point out that i am already signed in from a previous session where i actually had selected the "keep me signed in" option. This is also strange cause when i login as an admin i have (supposedly) revoked this account's access....

Also the third option of contacted support seems to be garbage (the support , not your suggestion of which i am grateful no matter if it worked or not ) as the options it gives me were automated and totally unrelated. Well, it did give a couple of links one of which was the learn.microsoft.com which i am already using to troubleshoot.
Cameron Rushing 0 Reputation points

2025-05-22T18:01:55.9166667+00:00

I am having a similar situation. I am a service tech trying to help a client, they had a change in management and when trying to sign into the admin .onmicrosoft.com account it requests the code from the auth app. The Auth app is currently with the previous manager and they are not available to constantly give the code. However we were able to get them do the sign in and went to change the MFA, the MFA showed as disabled, which is weird because it requested a code from the auth app. Anyway, I enabled the MFA and selected to have the mfa info be resubmitted, but when we went to sign in again it went back to the auth app even though i made sure the changed settings were saved. Is there a work around? Or am I now having to call microsoft to see if they will reset it for me?

Answer 1

@t4t
Thank you for your post!

I understand that you have a user that deleted their account from the Microsoft Authenticator app, and when trying to login to the Azure Portal they're prompted for a code from the app that they can't provide. I noticed that you also mentioned enabling SMS or Email options to receive the code for MFA didn't work either, so I'll share some more options to hopefully point you in the right direction.

Use a different verification option:

1) Because the user can't access the Authenticator App to verify their identity using the code generated, they should be able to select Use a different verification option.
2) The user can now verify their identity via Email, Phone/Text, or Authenticator App. If the user doesn't have access to any of these options or if they never set this up, if you have other user's within your tenant, you should be able to Add authentication methods for the user, so they can login using these other methods.

If your organization has MFA enabled via Conditional Access Policies, you can exclude the user from the policy so they don't have to perform MFA, and re-add them once they sign-in.
If Security Defaults is enabled within your tenant and the user is an Admin, you can remove their role assignment to hopefully exclude them from MFA and re-add it once they sign-in.

If none of these options work to resolve the user's issue, they'll have to reach out to our Global Customer Service phone number(s) so their team can look into the issue and unlock the user. Optionally, they can try reaching out to our Azure Data Protection team for further assistance - (866-807-5850).

I hope this helps!

If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Thank you for your time and patience throughout this issue.

Please remember to "Accept Answer" if any answer/reply helped, so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

JamesTran-MSFT 36,906 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2022-12-21T22:43:17.09+00:00

@t4t
I just wanted to check in and see if you had any other questions or if you were able to resolve this issue?

If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Thank you for your time and patience throughout this issue.

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Please remember to "Accept Answer" if any answer/reply helped, so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

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Azure reset MFA not working

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