Authenticator Android app: backup overwritten

Question

Hello everyone,

My cell phone was stolen, which is why I have to set up MS Authenticator on my new device. Unfortunately, when restoring the backup, the app tells me there is no backup. But that can't be the case because the backup was set on the old cell phone. I suspect I made a mistake when installing and setting up the app on the new phone and overwrote the backup. Is there any way to restore the old backup (if there was one) via MS support? I rely on the accounts that are linked to the authenticator. Thank you for your help in advance!

Regards

Thomas

Answer 1

You can restore from an authenticator cloud backup (assuming there was one) but make sure no accounts have been added to the newly install app. Then sign on with recovery account to do the restore.

You can recover your account credentials from your cloud account, but you must first make sure that the account you're recovering doesn't exist in the Microsoft Authenticator app. For example, if you're recovering your personal Microsoft account, you must make sure you don't have a personal Microsoft account already set up in the authenticator app. This check is important so we can be sure we're not overwriting or erasing an existing account by mistake. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/back-up-and-recover-account-credentials-in-the-authenticator-app-bb939936-7a8d-4e88-bc43-49bc1a700a40

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Answer 2

Ok, well I posted that in case there was a chance. Unfortunately, without a backup to restore from the only option is to work with each of the service provider's account recovery methods. The authenticator app is nothing more than a code generator. The two factor is only turned on or off at the service provider end.

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Answer 3

Hey Dave,

maybe you got me wrong: There was a backup and I accidently overwrote it. As I have many accounts connected to the Authenticator, I thought Microsoft can roll back the backup in the backend.

Regards

Thomas