I got a new phone and now i cannot sign into my outlook account because my authenticator app won’t display a number?

Question

I just got the iphone 16, and had been wanting to log into my university outlook account. To do so i need to use my authenticator app to log in. But before i can do that i need to log into the authenticator app which needs the authenticator app to approve. So logging into the authenticator app just doesn’t work, because it asks you to input the number that pops up on the app… while you are in the app…. I need help because there has to be some way to get around this stupid loophole and i have been trouble shooting for hours. I also have a mac that doesn’t seem to help… am i going crazy or anyone else have this issue???? Help!!

Answer 1

Dear Thomson, Eleanor 

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

We understand you're experiencing a frustrating loop when trying to log in using the Microsoft Authenticator app. Here are a few suggestions that may help: 

• Check if you still have access to your old phone – If so, try opening the Authenticator app there to retrieve the code or approve the sign-in request. 
• Use an alternative verification method – In the second image you provided, try selecting “I can’t use my Microsoft Authenticator app right now”. This should allow you to verify via SMS or email, assuming those options were set up previously. 

If the above methods don’t work, since your email is associated with a university account, your institution’s IT team or Helpdesk may be able to reset your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) settings. This will allow you to reconfigure MFA from scratch on your new device.  As general Microsoft Support, we do not have administrative access to change these settings. Only your university’s IT team has the ability to adjust or reset your MFA configuration. 

You can also refer to this Microsoft support article for more information: Manage authentication methods - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn  

We hope this helps resolve your issue. Please let us know if you need further assistance. 

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