How can I recover the deleted account information in the Microsoft Authenticator app?

Question

Dear officer:

I have bound three accounts using the Microsoft Authenticator app.

I deleted two of the accounts because I needed to switch to a new device, and no backup was enabled on my old iPhone.

I am the administrator of these accounts.

I just purchased the iCloud backup on iOS today.

My questions are:

1. If I perform a backup now, can the deleted Authenticator account data still be recovered?
2. How should I recover the deleted accounts?
3. Or how can I add these accounts to my new device?

Answer 1

1. Performing a backup now on the old iPhone will not recover accounts that were already deleted from Microsoft Authenticator.
   • Authenticator backups only capture the accounts and settings that currently exist in the app at the time backup is enabled.
   • Once an account is removed from Authenticator and no previous backup exists, that account’s Authenticator configuration is not stored anywhere in the Authenticator backup and cannot be restored from the app.
2. To recover the deleted accounts, they must be re‑added to Authenticator individually using each service’s own security/MFA settings.
   • For Microsoft personal, work, or school accounts, only the account name is restored from backup; sign‑in is still required to fully re‑enable them in Authenticator. Since there is no backup in this case, sign‑in and MFA re‑registration must be done directly with each account’s security portal.
   • For third‑party accounts (such as Amazon, Facebook, Gmail), the one‑time password (TOTP) configuration must be recreated by going to each site’s security/MFA settings and scanning a new QR code or entering the secret key.
   • If access to a Microsoft account itself is lost (not just Authenticator), use the Microsoft account sign‑in helper to regain access to the backup/recovery account: Sign-in helper.
3. To add these accounts to the new device:
   • Install Microsoft Authenticator on the new iOS device. Get the app.
   • Since there was no prior backup, do not expect “Restore from backup” to bring back the deleted accounts; instead, add each account again:
     • For Microsoft personal accounts: sign in to the account and follow the instructions in the account’s Security/MFA settings to set up Microsoft Authenticator as a sign‑in method.
     • For work or school accounts: sign in to the organization’s security/MFA registration page (for example, via the usual “Additional security verification” or “Security info” page) and add Microsoft Authenticator again.
     • For third‑party accounts: go to each site’s security/MFA section, choose to set up an authenticator app, and scan the QR code with Authenticator on the new device.
   • After re‑adding, enable backup going forward so future device changes can use restore instead of re‑registration. On iOS, ensure:
     • A personal Microsoft account is available as the recovery account.
     • iCloud account is signed in and iCloud Backup is enabled.
     • In Authenticator Settings, turn on the iCloud/Cloud Backup toggle so credentials and app settings are backed up.

If unable to restore because access to the Microsoft backup account itself is lost, use the Microsoft account sign‑in helper. If restoration fails for any other reason, accounts must be added again manually.

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References:

• Restore account credentials from Microsoft Authenticator
• Back up account credentials in Microsoft Authenticator
• Back up your accounts in Microsoft Authenticator
• Backup and restore scenarios for iOS/iPadOS