Help Request: Lost Access to Microsoft Authenticator After Phone Reset

Question

Dear Support Team,

I need your urgent assistance to regain access to my Microsoft account.

Recently, I had to perform a factory reset on my mobile device due to a serious issue. Unfortunately, I lost all apps and data, including my Microsoft Authenticator. I did not have the chance to back up the authenticator app before the reset.

Now that my phone is restored, I am trying to sign in to my Microsoft account. First, I receive a code on my secondary email (gabriel……@…), and I can enter that code successfully. However, I’m then asked for a second verification code using my phone, which is linked to the Authenticator app. When I try to use my phone, it says that option is currently unavailable.

When I try again using my Gmail email, it tells me I have requested too many codes and to try again the next day. I’ve been stuck in this situation for three days and still can’t access anything.

Although I still have access to my email on my PC, I can’t log in to Microsoft Authenticator, Xbox, Bing, or Edge on my mobile device because they all ask for the security code normally provided by the Authenticator app.

Please help me reset my two-step verification settings or provide an alternative way to verify my identity so I can recover access to my account and services.

Thank you very much for your time and support.

Sincerely,

Answer 1

Hello Jesus Gabriel Orozco Trevizo,

Thanks for using the Q&A platform.

I understand your account no longer has Microsoft Authenticator linked to it due to a factory reset on your mobile device.

I recommend that you reset your MFA for the user account with which you are trying to log in with the help of another Global Administrator in the tenant.

They can achieve this by selecting the Require re-register multifactor authentication option in Azure.

For more details: Manage user authentication

If you don’t have another global administrator and you are the only global admin available to reset your registered MFA, this scenario would fall under a tenant lockout.

To resolve the issue, kindly raise a support ticket with the Data Protection team to unblock your access: Microsoft support.

Additionally, you can check out a similar thread with the same issue: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions

If the response was helpful, please feel free to mark it as “Accepted Answer” and consider giving it an upvote. This helps others in the community as well.

Regards,

Obinna.