Critical Authentication Failure Preventing Access to Personal Microsoft Account - SMS Verification Issue

Question

A critical authentication failure is preventing access to a personal Microsoft account. This is not an account recovery issue, as the password is known and SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) is enabled. However, the system blocks the SMS method due to prioritization of the lost Authenticator method.

Attempts to update security verification methods through https://account.live.com/proofs/manage resulted in redirection to the recovery form, which does not apply in this case.

Steps Already Taken:

• Completed the Microsoft account recovery form, but it was ineffective since the issue is not related to resetting the password, and the SMS method is active but blocked.
• Attempted the 30-day security update, but it still prioritizes Authenticator over SMS, leaving access denied.
• Verified that the phone number is correct and active, successfully receiving SMS codes for password resets, but not for authentication.
• Followed every troubleshooting step advised by support and adhered to Microsoft’s published recovery guides.
• Waited through cooldown periods up to 7 days multiple times, yet the issue persists.
• Attempted sign-in from trusted devices and locations.

Despite over 20 interactions to escalate this issue, support agents continue to suggest retrying the same steps and waiting for another 24 hours to a week instead of resolving the underlying authentication failure within Microsoft's system.

Requesting immediate support for the following actions:

• Manually activate or prioritize SMS authentication over Authenticator for the account.
• Enable the ability to update security verification methods through https://account.live.com/proofs/manage without being redirected to recovery forms.
• Escalate this case urgently to the team handling authentication system errors, rather than directing back to recovery options that are irrelevant in this case.