Company does not know who admin is.

Question

A little background. Our previous IT group had a specific employee that would come to our company once a week, and help us out with on-site issues. I believe he set up our Microsoft 365 business account. He has since quit that IT company.

We have now also switched from that IT company to another.

Now we are trying to get into the admin center, but we do not know who the admin is. It is either the owner (who does not remember their password, and it doesn't let us reset their password), or our previous IT group. The previous IT group has a login that is "ITcompanyadmin@..." so I'm thinking that they're the admin.

However, the dilemma is that the previous IT group is saying that they had nothing to do with our Microsoft business account. They don't have anything at all, according to them. But they have their own login!

I've tried calling the three different toll-free numbers Microsoft has. On all three, I couldn't get pass the AI because it kept hanging up on me saying that I need to go to the admin center. But, again, we don't have access!

I asked our new IT group about it, and they suggested that we just cancel the payments and it'll cancel on it's own. And then we can just make a whole new business account. But another issue is that we don't even know what card is being used for it! We asked our accountant, but they couldn't find anything.

This is a whole big mess. If anyone has any insight on how to get in contact with a real person so that we can get this worked out, please let me know!

Answer 1

Dear @KLopez,

Thank you for sharing the background and explaining the situation in detail. I understand how frustrating this experience must be, especially given the lack of access and clarity around the tenant administration.

Please note that forum moderators have no control over user accounts, especially when it comes to logging in to your account, resetting your password, changing your access, etc.   

Based on the information you have provided, when there is no confirmed Global Administrator available and access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center cannot be restored through normal password recovery, the remaining official option is to contact Microsoft Data Protection team. This team handles tenant ownership and access recovery scenarios.

Please try to find the related hotline number to call the frontline let them raise a ticket for you: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support (Scroll down for Business users) 

In some countries, this is an automated conversation: First, when you call the hotline, they will ask you what kind of problem you are struggling with. 

Answer: Authenticator. 

A: What products do you use? 

B: Office 365 for business. 

Verification: Education or company account? 

B: For companies 

A: Are you an administrator? 

B: Yes. 

A: Are there any other administrators in your organization? 

B: No. 

A: I need one.... Service request? 

B: Yes 

Note: Sometimes, you would hear the computer-generated voice at first, please kindly wait for it to end, and if an agent is available, you would be directed to them and get your support. During peak hours, there might be high call volumes, so we kindly ask for your patience as we work to assist everyone as quickly as possible

Please note that this process requires you to prove ownership of the tenant. While I do not have visibility into the exact verification steps, Microsoft typically requests multiple pieces of information to validate tenant ownership. This may include, but is not limited to, billing details, domain ownership evidence, historical admin emails, subscription information, and other identifying records. As a forum moderator, I do not have access to this process and cannot expedite or bypass it. Before contacting Data Protection, I strongly recommend taking the following preparatory steps, as they can significantly help the recovery process:

• Search internal mailboxes for any historical emails related to Microsoft 365 setup, billing, admin notifications, or subscription confirmations.
• Re‑engage both the previous IT provider and the current IT provider to collect any information they may still have (admin accounts, setup emails, tenant name, domain records, or billing references).
• Gather any available documentation related to domain registration, invoices, payment confirmations, or onboarding communications.

Having as much information as possible prepared in advance will increase the likelihood of a successful ownership verification when you contact Microsoft.

I hope this information is helpful. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out. I am here to help. Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation.