I am the Admin of my Microsoft account with MFA setup, i am unable to access the account using ID and password

Question

Hello,

I have an Admin account for which i am unable to login due to MFA setup, i tried setting up MFA using my ID and Password but it is still redicting me to give a code from the tool which i lost access to.
I have all my domains and subscriptions setup in the account and currenly i am locked out and no way to access is really frustrating.
If some one could help me it will be a blessing for me.

Answer 1

Dear @Aditya, 

Good day! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum! 

Based on your description, I understand that you’re the admin of your Microsoft account but can’t sign in because your MFA method is no longer accessible, even though you still know your ID and password. You’re locked out of the account that contains your domains and subscriptions and are looking for guidance on how to regain access.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this issue. If you're the only admin, in this situation, the Microsoft Data Protection Team has tools and processes in place to verify identity and regain access to administrator accounts. 

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

Therefore, if you are the only administrator in your organization, then you need to involve Microsoft Data Protection Team. 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 

(Important 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. Depending on your country or region, when you call the support number, you may hear an introduction of about 30 seconds such as "You can visit the link...". You can ignore this introduction and wait until you are presented with the options. Then press "1" as a business email user, and again "1" for technical help.) 

As an alternative, you can create a new tenant account and submit your request from there.    

To set up a new tenant, please follow these steps: 

• Visit Compare Office 365 Enterprise Pricing and Plans | Microsoft 365, choose any plan and click try for free to start a free trial.    
• Follow the guided setup process to create a new account for a new tenant. 

Once your tenant is created, you should be able to access the support portal and submit your ticket referencing your locked account without further issues.

In the ticket's description, you could refer to this message "Hello,

I am currently locked out of my Microsoft 365 tenant because multi-factor authentication is enforced, and I am unable to complete the verification process. I am the only global administrator for this tenant, which means I cannot access my account or the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

To resolve this, I have created a new tenant and would like to be connected with the Data Protection Team to verify my identity and assist with regaining access. I am available to provide any required documentation or verification to support the recovery process."

Ticket Support: Log in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using the newly created trial admin account > Support > Help & Support. You can raise support ticket at: https://admin.microsoft.com/#/support/requests   

• After clicking on "Help & Support" button like this image, you can type "I need agent support via phone or email". After that, you can click on "Contact support" 
• Choose contact method: "Phone" 
• Fill all the information in this contact support details, please describe your situation carefully so they will have enough information to help you. 
• Finally, click on "Contact me" As an alternative, you can create a new tenant account and submit your request from there.    
• 
• 
• 
• 
• After completing them, you will receive an email appointment for a meeting to review this issue professionally together. 
• For more details, you could refer to this article: Get support for Microsoft 365 for business 

Please remember to cancel the trial subscription once your issue is resolved to avoid any unintended charges.

Note: After creating the support ticket, please kindly let me know the ticket number so I could also track its process to help you regain access to your account/tenant.

Kindly let me know when there are updates or if you need further assistance. Any updates you’re able to share would be really helpful.

I'm here and happy to help! Thank you for your kindness and patience!

---

If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

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. 

Answer 2

Because access to the original MFA method is lost and the account is an admin account, recovery depends on whether there is another global admin in the tenant.

1. If there is another global admin in the tenant:
   • That admin must sign in to the Azure portal and open Microsoft Entra ID.
   • Go to Users → select the locked-out admin account.
   • Open Authentication methods and select Require re-register multifactor authentication.
   • After this, sign-in with the admin account again; it will prompt to set up MFA from scratch (e.g., new Microsoft Authenticator registration).
2. If there is no other global admin (you are the only one):
   • This is a tenant lockout scenario. Self-service recovery is not possible.
   • Contact Microsoft via the global customer service phone numbers and request the Data Protection / Tenant Recovery team to reset the admin’s MFA registration. Use the flow described in the context when navigating the IVR (state that this is an Office 365/Microsoft 365 for business account, that it is a company account, that you are the administrator, and that there is no other admin).
   • If reaching support directly is difficult, create a temporary trial Microsoft 365 tenant, go to the new tenant’s Microsoft 365 admin center → Support → Help & support, and open a ticket explicitly stating that you are locked out of a different tenant where you are the only global admin and need Data Protection to reset MFA.

In all cases, Microsoft support/Data Protection will verify identity and ownership of the tenant before resetting MFA. Once they reset it, sign in again with ID and password and complete MFA registration on the new device.

If SMS or voice MFA is also failing, the account may be blocked for MFA; in that case, a global admin (or Microsoft support if you are the only admin) must unblock the account in Microsoft Entra ID before MFA will work again.

---

References:

• You don't receive a text or voice call that contains the verification code for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication
• Troubleshoot Microsoft verification code issues
• Use a screen reader to set up and troubleshoot multifactor authentication
• "Activation failed" error when you try to set up Azure Multi-Factor Authentication
• Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
• I have a Micrsoft business account and I am the admin and the only user registered under this account. I can't log in because i have replaced my phone and the authenticator doesn't work. - Microsoft Q&A
• Global Admin Locked out - Microsoft Q&A
• Requesting a Tenant Admin MFA Reset - Microsoft Q&A
• Severity A Situation - Locked out of global admin account (MFA) - business down - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft authenticator sending me into a spiral - Microsoft Q&A

AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.