Trouble with MFA with Admin Account of Office365 (through GoDaddy)

Question

I have an Office365 Business Essentials subscription through GoDaddy. I have tried to resolve this through them, but was told it must be done through Microsoft.

I can login to the Office365 account at the GoDaddy website with the Microsoft credentials. I am still logged in to the account via Windows and Office on my devices (for now).

However, I am unable to access the admin area of Office (to change settings like the profile image, etc.) without verifying through MFA. And more importantly, I also can't access the OneDrive associated with this account without verifying through MFA.

When I try to login (be it the Microsoft website, my computer, the authenticator app, OneDrive, etc), it takes my login email and password, but then asks for MFA verification.

A few months ago, I had to reset my phone to factory settings. When I reinstalled Microsoft Authenticator, all my previously connected MFA's were missing.

I've tried re-adding the Office 365 account to Athenticator, but it gets stuck at verifying my ID with the Authenticator. The only options it gives me are to type in the Authenticator code or receive a code from the authenticator-- neither of which work.

I am the admin account, too -- so there is no one else who can log in to the admin area and reset the MFA.

To make matters even more complicated, the type of Office365 account I have has never had an email inbox associated with the sign-in credentials, as I told them I did not need one. At that time, allowing them to use my domain email had caused conflicts between Office, my Google subscription (where I prefer to receive my email), and Skype. The workaround they came up with was giving me an Office365 subscription with no email inbox.

However, I can confirm that my domain email address is listed as the contact email on the account through GoDaddy's admin page. I've checked, and Authenticator isn't sending anything there or to my cell phone (which I'm sure was added to the account).

I am stuck in a circle of being unable to login or add the account back to the Authenticator app because I can't connect the account to the Authenticator app.

Right now, the only critical issue is that this is preventing me from getting into the OneDrive. But I'm worried what happens the next time I have to do a reinstall on my computer. I may not be able to even add the Office365 account to my Windows login (as a work account) or login to Office365 without MFA.

Answer 1

Hi Rebecca Fouts,

Just checking in to see if you’ve had a chance to reach out to GoDaddy support regarding the MFA issue with your Office 365 admin account?

Have they been able to assist you so far, or are you still running into difficulties? I’d be happy to help guide you through the next steps if needed.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Jeanie-H - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist.

Answer 2

Hi Rebecca Fouts, 

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community Support. 

I’m really sorry you’ve had to go through this experience, and I’d like to help clarify the situation and guide you toward a resolution. 

Firstly, I want to explain more about the issue you're facing to, because your Office 365 subscription was purchased through GoDaddy, your Microsoft 365 environment is managed under their partner program. This means: 

• GoDaddy is the one who holds administrative control over your Microsoft 365 tenant, including access to the admin portal and MFA settings.
• Only GoDaddy has the ability to reset MFA for your global admin account.
• And importantly, only GoDaddy can raise a support ticket with Microsoft if further technical assistance is needed - because they are the delegated administrator for your account.

I completely understand how confusing it can be to be sent back and forth between support teams, but in this case, GoDaddy is the only party with the necessary access to help reset your MFA and restore your admin access. 

So, I suggest that you have to contact GoDaddy’s support team and request that they reset the MFA settings for your admin account. You can refer them to this official GoDaddy support article for context: 
https://www.godaddy.com/help/i-cant-access-my-multi-factor-authentication-method-40262 

(This link leads to a third-party website not managed by Microsoft. While we believe it contains helpful information, Microsoft is not responsible for its content or accuracy.)

Once GoDaddy resets your MFA you’ll be able to sign in again and reconfigure MFA from scratch and you can re-add your account to the Microsoft Authenticator app or choose another method like SMS or email. 

A few important notes I want to share: 

• Please avoid making changes directly in Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD). Doing so may cause configuration issues that GoDaddy cannot support or fix.
• If GoDaddy needs to escalate the issue to Microsoft, they are the only ones authorized to open a support ticket on your behalf.

To help prevent this from happening again in the future, I recommend asking GoDaddy to add a secondary admin account as a backup, enable multiple MFA methods (e.g., Authenticator + SMS or email), and back up your Authenticator app, or you may consider transferring your subscription from GoDaddy to Microsoft. This process is known as defederation.

Important notes for defederation access:

If you cancel the GoDaddy subscription before completing the defederation process, you may lose access to your admin account temporarily, even though your data is still there.

Therefore, it’s critical to:

Complete the defederation process first.

Transfer licenses to Microsoft.

You can find Microsoft’s official guidance here: Defederation Process for Microsoft 365 Admins Using GoDaddy

Thank you for your kindness and understanding! Please let me know if you need anything else! 

I'm waiting for your response. 

Sincerely,   
Jeanie-H - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist.