Trouble with authenticator

Question

Hello, I have an academic email provided by my university, which I use to log into Microsoft 365 services (such as OneDrive). However, I can no longer access my account because the Authenticator app sends the verification code to my old phone, which I no longer have access to.

When I try to set up Authenticator on my current phone, it still sends the code to my old phone, leaving me stuck.

I already contacted my university, but they told me there’s nothing they can do.

I have my password and all my credentials, but I can’t get past the Authenticator step. It doesn’t give me any option like “use a different method”; it forces me to use Authenticator only.

Could you please help me regain access to my account?

Answer 1

For a university (work/school) account where Microsoft Authenticator is the only allowed method and the original phone is lost, the only supported way to regain access is for an administrator or Microsoft’s protected support channels to reset the MFA registration.

Since the sign-in page does not offer “Use a different method” and the university has configured Authenticator as mandatory, self-service recovery is not possible. The following paths are supported:

1. Work with the university’s IT/tenant admin

• The MFA reset must be done in Microsoft Entra ID by an administrator:
  • Admin goes to Microsoft Entra admin center → Users → All users → select the account → Authentication methods → Require re-register multifactor authentication.
  • After this, the next sign-in will prompt for fresh Authenticator setup on the new phone.
• If the first-line university contact said they cannot help, escalate specifically to the Microsoft 365 / Entra ID administrator or central IT help desk and ask for an MFA reset for the account.

2. If this were a business tenant and the user were the only admin

• The documented path is to involve Microsoft’s Data Protection team via the regional Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support line so they can verify identity and reset MFA for the tenant admin.
• For non-admin users, only a tenant admin (university IT) can perform the reset; Microsoft support will direct back to the organization.

3. If no admin will reset MFA

• Without an MFA reset by the tenant admin or Microsoft’s protected support team, access to the account cannot be restored, even if the password is known. This is by design to protect the account.

Summary: The university’s Microsoft 365/Entra administrator must reset the MFA/Authenticator registration for the account. Provide them with the exact error behavior (no alternate method, only Authenticator) and ask them to perform an MFA reset in Entra ID. There is no end-user-only method to bypass or change the Authenticator requirement.

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References:

• Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
• Microsoft authenticator sending me into a spiral - Microsoft Q&A
• 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
• Requesting a Tenant Admin MFA Reset - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft Authenticator app doesn't show 6-digit OTP code - Microsoft Q&A