Authenticator is creating duplicate accounts

Question

Having a lot of trouble with Authenticator on my iOS devices. This is a personal account, it’s the same email for both Microsoft and for Apple ID.

The only way I can setup the Authenticator for my personal account is to login to my Microsoft account on the browser, go to security and generate a QR code, then I can add an account in Authenticator. If I just login to Authenticator with my email address it creates some weird account that generates 8 digit codes and is useless for anything.

if I want to have Authenticator on more than one device then Microsoft says I must use iCloud backup. If I turn this on and login using my email address it says there is a duplicate account and would I like to merge them, if I say “no” then I get two Authenticator accounts with the same email address, one generates 6digit codes and one generates 8digit codes. If I say “yes” to merge, then it deletes the account that generates 6digit codes and I can no longer login to my MS365 stuff, and I have to then get a new QR code which then adds a new account along side the other one with 8digit codes.

if I longin to Authenticator on my iPad and turn on iCloud backup, it downloads the account that generates the 8digit codes and not the one that generates 6digit codes.

So I’m stuck, going around in circles and I don’t understand what the hell is going on.