MFA Lockout - Cant get support to call me back

Question

I followed a tutorial from Microsoft to turn off the Authenticator App on my Microsoft 365 account and Admin account.

Then when I went to log back in, I enter my credentials successfully. I get a screen that says "Your organization requires additional security information. Follow the prompts to set up the Microsoft Authenticator App."

I am the only Admin on this account and have several users using it a lot in my business so it is important that I get back in ASAP.

I called and gave my information to someone on the support line but I have not been contacted to resolve my issues.

Answer 1

Hello @Matthew Bowen ,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A platform.

Based on your description, I understand that you are the only admin of your Microsoft 365 account and have disabled the Authenticator App. Now, you are encountering an error when trying to log back in.
By default Microsoft create a conditional access to enable MFA on admin accounts and activate it after 90 days of creation : Common Conditional Access policy: Require multifactor authentication for admins accessing Microsoft admin portals

You can edit this Conditional Access and exclude your account:

• Open this URL https://entra.microsoft.com/ with a global admin account
• Go to Protection then Conditional access
• Click on Policy
• Click Multifactor authentication for admins accessing Microsoft Admin Portals policy
• Go to Exclude identities and add your account.

If you are the only global admin on the account and are blocked entirely, you can reach out to our support team. You can look into below article to get support numbers depending on your country.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/global-customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2

or creating a ticket through a different account: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support?view=o365-worldwide#phone-support

While creating a ticket with Microsoft support team. Give them the tenant ID which is locked out in your description. Tell them that no admin account has access anymore and your partners also have no access anymore.

Once you create a ticket with support team you will have to work with our data protection team. You will have to first prove your identity against your tenant for security purpose. Post that this team will help you with help you in getting access to your tenant or unlock your account depending on your scenario.

Also, for the future, you can create an emergency access account (break glass) in Azure AD. This account will help prevent being accidentally locked out of your Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) organization because you can't sign in for any reason.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/roles/security-emergency-access

I hope this clarifies things. Please contact us if you have any additional questions.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for "Was this answer helpful". And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thanks,
Chaithra E.