How to turn off authenticator on an email address.

Question

I am the admin of microsoft 365 at my company. I changed the password to my admin@ email account and it wants to set up authenticator but I cannot use the QR code bc I am on a PC and it won't let me into the email account. I am stuck.

Answer 1

Hi Michele,

Hello, Erwinvan. Thanks for reaching the Microsoft Community. My name is Alex and I'm a Microsoft user/administrator just like you. I'll be happy to assist you today.

Did you already have an authenticator MFA on this account, or do you need to setup MFA for the first time for this account? If you want to setup MFA, but you are missing options then it is most likely due to policies set in the M365 environment. Normally you should be able to choose for the App, Phone or email. And if you already did setup an email MFA but you are not able to access that mail account, then you should contact Microsoft Business Support:

Get MS help to re-assign Office Admin ID after Sole Admin Fired / Quit / Dropped Dead / Lost Admin

Global Customer Service Phone Numbers (Home & Bus)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support?view=o365-worldwide&tabs=phone
.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/global-customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2
.

Problem:

Our only Office Administrator quit / was fired / dropped dead. What do I do?

Solution.

You have to be able to prove to MS Business support that you legitimately represent the company
.

Contact MS Business Support

They find out who your Microsoft partner is

Provide documentation that your previous M365-admin had been fired (or what ever).

MS grants Office Admin to a UserID you provide them
.

Please let us know how your conversation with Business Support went so we can refine the answer we provide to the next person. Thanks
.

One person came back with this reply outlining some proof of ownership they needed to provide:

<snip>

… our account is apparently an "unmanaged tenant", so I need to deal with the DNS records in order to prove ownership and take over.

</snip>
.

Answer 2

BTW, if you are still able to get into the portal.azure.com with the admin account. You can add MFA options there or remove/reset the MFA for the admin user all together.