Unable to solve Authentication app problem

Question

Hello!

I’ve recently changed phones and I didn’t know I needed to switch on the back up feature on the authentication app.

I volunteer for a charity so not everyone is tech savvy, so we don’t know what to do.

How can I log back into my Outlook app, when I can’t authenticate myself first as I’m not to log into the Authenticator app.

When I originally authenticated myself, I scanned a QR code. Can one of these somehow be generated again?

I have access to the mailbox through the web, but I have to keep refreshing to check for emails which is not ideal.

Answer 1

Hello Alex, I hope this helps

https://streamable.com/ke8wrt

This is a video of when I open the Outlook app, it tells me to log in, I go to log in and it takes me to the authenticator app and asks me for the number on the authenticator app, which I can’t do as I’m not logged into the authenticator app. It’s an endless circle.

I didn’t realise I needed to back up the authentication to the cloud with an email address before switching to a new phone.

Answer 2

Hi, Pride Ents

Thanks for your update. Could you please capture the detailed prompted error with us that we can give you further assistance.

Thanks so much for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Alex | Microsoft Community Moderator.

Answer 3

Thanks Alex, I've tried the first step and it tells me the address doesn't exisit, so I'm unable to proceed

Answer 4

Hi, Pride Ents

Good day!

Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to assist you.

According to your description, I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the authentication app. If you have access to the mailbox through the web, you can try resetting the authentication app.

Here are the steps:

1. Go to the Security settings page for your Microsoft account: https://account.microsoft.com/security/
2. Under the "Security info" section, click on "Add a new way to sign in or verify"
3. Select "Mobile app" as the method, and then select "Authenticator app"
4. Follow the prompts to set up the app again on your new phone. You may need to scan a new QR code to set it up.

Once you have set up the authentication app again, you should be able to log back into your Outlook app.

If the issue persists, would you like to talk with Microsoft Data Protection directly? Unlike us, for this team which has higher permission that they would able to reset it on the backend for you.

To get in touch with Microsoft Data Protection team, please hotline with - Find Microsoft 365 for business support phone numbers by country or region - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn. (Ctrl+F4 and type your area's name.)

Thanks for your precious time and your understanding would be highly appreciated.

Hope you all the best!

Sincerely,

Alex | Microsoft Community Moderator.