How do I bypass the Microsoft authenticator?

Question

I just set up my Microsoft email and it is requiring me to set up Microsoft authenticator. I only plan to use my email on my PC as I don't have internet access on my phone. The authenticator app can only be downloaded on a phone. How can I bypass this setup?

Answer 1

Dear julie

Good day! Thanks for posting in the Microsoft Community. We'll be happy to help!

First of all, we regret for the inconvenience caused to your work. Based on your description, I have a general understanding of your question, seemly you can't sign in your account because of authenticator, then if your account is a Microsoft365 work or school account, and if you are an end user/if you are an administrator but another user has administrator privileges, it is strongly recommended that you contact your administrator and ask them to reset the authentication method for your account. The administrator can do this by Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn. (If you're not sure who your admin is, you can check this How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support

If you're the only admin and can't access your account due to an authentication issue, it's recommended that you contact the privacy team, as we're from the community team and don't have permission to reset user/admin accounts. The privacy team is the only support team that verifies and resets the account. For the privacy team contact number, please kindly see **** Find Microsoft 365 for business support phone numbers by country or region - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn

During the phone call, please answer some questions, to reach the support, better use some keywords like your authenticator problem regarding your account within business subscription. And you will need to provide the information you have received through your subscription, such as: Your company name, billing information, phone number, alternate email address, etc.

Meanwhile, If you want to disable MFA, please kindly check following steps: Turn off the Authenticator app for your organization, you will need to follow these steps in the Microsoft 365 admin center >Sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center > Users > Active users > click on Multi-factor authentication in the top navigation bar > service settings, under verification options uncheck the notification through mobile app box.

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Also please kindly refer to Set up multifactor authentication for users - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn

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**Please kindly note: the registration requirement for SSPR had to be set to "no".**So **** please also kindly ask your admin within your organization to disable SSPR and then check the result. For your reference Let users reset their own passwords - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn

If you don't use admin account, please kindly ask admin within your organization for help, please check How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support

Meanwhile, if you still need further help, please kindly share more details such as your type of account(business account within business subscription/outlook.com/hotmail.com/msn.com/live.com/imap account/pop account)

Thank you in advance for your understanding. Your patience and cooperation will be highly appreciated. I hope for all the best!

Sincerely

Kerry Chen | Community Moderator