Recover work account with 2FA Authenticator not working

Question

I created a few moths ago a subscription to Office 365 E1 EEE (without Teams) and it worked fine. After a few months without login in, I can't. The problem is Microsoft Authenticator. I got a new phone and I cant't correctly add my account to the Authenticator app, because I have to generate a QR, but that also requires login, and I can't. All solutions that I have tried (including phone call to support) require a login that I can't do. There is no problem with my password, but I'm finding always the wall of Authenticator. I'm trapped in a loop. I'm a Dynamics 365 developer and this instance of Power Platform is really useful to learn, doing tests and so on.

---

Moved from: Microsoft Security | Microsoft Authenticator

Answer 1

Hi @Miguel Ángel Tejadas Ceamanos,  

Thanks for your information.

Please try this alternative method:

• Toggle OFF the Support Assistance option
• Type your issue under "How can we help" (For example: "Sign-in issue") > Click Get Help
• You'll see the "Contact Support" button appear > Click on this button

• Choose a contact method, via Phone or Email and Fill in the form.
• Click Contact me to submit your request.
• You should receive a ticket ID for tracking purpose.

I hope this help. Thank you for your patience so far!

Answer 2

Hello again. First, thanks for your replies and assistance :) I have created a new free trial tenant, as you suggested, and tried to raise a ticket following your instructions. But it didn't work, they tell me that I need to go to Power Platform Admin Center, and the link they offer takes me to the locked tenant:

I cant't believe this. What can I do now?

Answer 3

Hi @Miguel Ángel Tejadas Ceamanos,  

Thank you for the confirmation.

When contacting frontline support, please follow the prompts carefully. This will allow you to bypass the AI chat and connect directly with a support agent. Avoid selecting any links until you reach the option to press 1 for Business Support, followed by 1 again for Technical Support.

If calling the Spain support line is difficult, you may try another regional support number that offers service in your language, or contact the English support line if you’re comfortable speaking English.

If you still have trouble using the frontline support, you can try set up a new trial tenant and submit your support request:   

• Visit the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans page: Go to Compare Office 365 Enterprise Pricing and Plans | Microsoft 365.   
• Choose a plan and start a free trial: Select any of the available plans and click "Try for free" to begin the trial setup process.    

   

• Follow the guided setup: Complete the steps to create a new Microsoft account and a new tenant. This will be a separate and independent Microsoft 365 environment.   
• Access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center: Once the new tenant is created, navigate to https://admin.microsoft.com/.   
• Go to Support:  
  • After clicking on "Help & Support" button like this image, you can type "I need help". After that, you can click on "Contact support"  
  
  • Choose contact method: "Phone" or "Email"  
  
• Raise a support ticket: Describe your issue in detail. Crucially, you must clearly state that you are locked out of a different, pre-existing Microsoft 365 tenant where you are the administrator. Provide the following information about your locked account:    
  • Your administrator account email address for the locked tenant.   
  • The domain name of your locked tenant    
  • Any error messages you are receiving.   
  • Details about the authentication issues you are experiencing.   
  • Confirmation that you are the administrator of the locked tenant.   
  
  • Finally, clicking on "Contact me".  

Important notes:   

• This new trial tenant will not give you access to any of the data or settings in your original locked tenant. It is solely a temporary means to contact Microsoft support.   
• Be prepared for Microsoft support to ask for verification of your identity and administrative rights for the locked tenant.   
• The resolution time might be longer as you are contacting support from a different tenant.   
• Remember to cancel the trial subscription for the new tenant once your issue with the original account is resolved to avoid any unintended charges. You can typically do this within the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under "Billing" -> "Your products." 

I hope you'll be able to reach the Data Protection team this way. If you still have any issue, please don't hesitate to reply. Wishing you a successful day!

Answer 4

Hello @Miguel Ángel Tejadas Ceamanos,  

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.  

May I confirm whether you added your new phone as an Authenticator method or created a backup on your old phone before moving the Authenticator app to your new device? When you change phones, the new device must be registered first in order for Microsoft Authenticator to function properly.    

You can follow these steps to troubleshoot for your case:   

If you still have the old phone:     

• Open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your old phone.     
• Go to Settings > Backup and ensure cloud backup is enabled (linked to your Microsoft account).     
• On your new phone, install Microsoft Authenticator and sign in with the same Microsoft account to restore the backup.     
• Verify that your accounts appear and test login.     

If you no longer have the old phone:     

Please check if you have any alternative method to sign-in besides Authenticator. If yes, please try sign-in using this alternative method.     

 

If you don't have any alternative sign-in method, you'll need to revoke your MFA access, which will allow you to set up Authenticator on a new device and then you can access other Microsoft services.   

As you created the account, are you also the admin of this tenant?  

Please find any admin account that you can still access and you follow these steps:     

• Go to Microsoft Entra Admin Center: https://entra.microsoft.com   
• Navigate to Users > All Users.   
• Select your user account.   
• Go to Authentication Methods.   
• Click "Require re-register multifactor authentication".   

   

This will reset your MFA settings. The next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to set up the Authenticator app again using a QR code.   

If the locked out account is the only administrator of this tenant, you will need to contact the Microsoft Data Protection team, as they are the only group authorized and equipped with the necessary tools and verification procedures to confirm your identity and restore administrator access.  

Please try to find the related hotline number to call the frontline and let them raise a ticket for you: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support  

Please carefully follow this instruction to ask for Microsoft Data Protection team support:    

Depending on your country or region. For some countries, when calling the support number, although there are about 30 seconds opening as something "you can visit the link...." But you can ignore this opening and wait until the option, then "1" as a business email user, "1" again for technical help.    

For some countries, it will be an automated conversation like:     

First, when you call the hotline, it asks what kind of problem you are worried about.    

Answered: authenticator.    

A: What kind of product are you using?    

B: Office 365 for business.    

A confirmation: education or company account?    

B: For companies    

A: Are you an administrator?    

B: Yes.    

A: Do you have the other admin in your organization?    

B: No.    

A: You need one.... Service request?    

B: Yes    

If your subscription is from a partner or reseller, and the global administrator is unable to open a service request on your end, contact the reseller's support provider to help open a service request on behalf of you instead.    

Please understand 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.    

I hope you can successfully revoke your access. If you encounter any difficulties in contacting the frontline support, please feel free to let me know. Thank you and I wish you a great day! 

---

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.