Unable to access work or school account

Question

I am unable to access my 365 Admin page (my work school account). My personal Account and Work or School account are linked to the same email address. I have access to my personal account but can not access my work or school account., bought accounts use [Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed]@archtownplanners.co.za as the e-mail address.

I am the sole global admin, I have reset my password for my work or school account but now need to provide a code from the authenticator app on my mobile phone. I cant access that code on my authenticator app. and for me to set up my work or school account on my authenticator app I need to register my work school account on my app...which I can not do without the code - this is a catch 22 and I am now stuck. can you please help me to change the options for verification to send a message to my cellphone? I would greatly appreciate your urgent assistance as I have been struggeling with this for 2 weeks now and urgently need to get into my account.

Answer 1

Please note that this is a public community forum, not a direct Microsoft support channel. I don’t have access to your tenant or account, and I’m not able to make changes on your behalf. My role here is to guide you based on experience and documented processes, and I’ll do my best to help you get back into your account.

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Dear @Marike Bolz,

I hope you’re having a good day.

Thank you for sharing the details, and I completely understand how frustrating this situation must be.

From what you’ve described, you’re currently experiencing a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) lockout. Even though your password has been reset successfully, access is blocked because your account requires a code from Microsoft Authenticator, and you no longer have access to that method. Since no alternative verification methods (like SMS or another device) are available, the system cannot verify your identity and therefore does not allow you to sign in or modify your authentication options. This behavior is by design and cannot be bypassed externally for security reasons.

I understand you’re hoping to switch verification to SMS, but unfortunately this cannot be configured without first completing the existing MFA challenge.

In a typical situation, another global admin could reset your MFA methods or help you re-register your authentication options. However, since you are the only admin on the tenant, that recovery path is not available in your case.

At this point, the only viable way forward is to go through Microsoft Support for account/tenant recovery. You’ll need to contact them and explain that you are the sole global administrator, currently locked out due to MFA with no access to the authenticator device. They will guide you through a verification process (often involving domain ownership or business validation), and once they confirm your identity, they can assist with resetting your authentication methods so you can access your tenant again.

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 

(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.)     

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    

If your organization’s Office 365 Business subscription was purchased through a partner or reseller, and you’re unable to open a service request directly, you may also contact the reseller’s support provider and ask them to open a support request on your behalf.

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Alternatively, you can try set up a new trial tenant and submit your support request, please follow this link to create a trial tenant: Compare Office 365 Enterprise Pricing and Plans | Microsoft 365 - after that you will be able to access to Microsoft 365 Admin Center to raise the ticket

Assuming that you have already created an account after registering a free trial and you can go to Microsoft 365 admin center and click Support > Help & support icon to raise your ticket. The agent will be able to create a ticket for you under the affected tenant and then transfer this ticket to Data Protection team who could help you to regain access.

Please mention that you are raising ticket on behalf of the affected tenant that you do not have access to. The support team will help you to create ticket on the affected tenant then later on the Microsoft Data Protection team will assist you.

Note: This process will take more time than usual (7-14 working days) for your account to get access again as Data Protection is always overwhelmed with the number of tickets. As I am forum moderator, I do not have access to Microsoft internal system to assist or push this process to be quicker.

If you do create the trial and it resolves the issue, please remember to cancel the subscription afterward to avoid any related charges. 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.   

I hope my information is helpful. Please give me any updates once you get this resolved.

Warm regards, 

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Answer 2

Because the work or school account is protected by multifactor authentication and there is no access to the Microsoft Authenticator app or any alternative verification method, the options to change MFA settings (for example, to SMS) cannot be changed directly by the locked-out admin.

For a sole global administrator who is locked out due to Microsoft Authenticator and has no other MFA method available, the supported recovery path is to work with Microsoft’s Data Protection team through Microsoft Support. That team can verify identity and reset the authentication methods for the tenant admin account.

Use this process:

1. Call Microsoft Customer Service for the region using the numbers listed at Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support.
2. When the automated system asks for the issue, state “Authenticator” or “multi-factor authentication”.
3. When asked which product, choose or say “Office 365 for business” / “company account”.
4. Confirm that this is a company (not education) account and that this is the only administrator on the tenant.
5. Ask to create a service request and be routed to the Data Protection team for an admin MFA reset.
6. Provide details of the tenant and admin account (admin sign-in name, tenant domain, description of being locked out because of Authenticator and no other MFA method).

If contact with a live agent is difficult, an alternative documented approach is:

1. Create a new temporary Microsoft 365 tenant by starting a trial subscription (a separate tenant from the locked one).
2. Sign in to the new tenant’s Microsoft 365 admin center.
3. From there, open a support ticket and clearly state that access is needed to a different existing tenant where the caller is the only global admin and is locked out due to MFA.
4. Ask support to escalate to the Data Protection team to reset MFA for the original tenant admin account.
5. After the issue is resolved, cancel the trial subscription for the temporary tenant to avoid charges.

Once the Data Protection team resets the MFA settings, sign in again with the work or school account. During sign-in, the account will be prompted to re-register MFA. At that point, configure the preferred verification methods (Microsoft Authenticator, SMS, phone call, or security key) as allowed by the organization’s policy.

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References:

• Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
• Use a screen reader to set up and troubleshoot multifactor authentication
• Reset your Microsoft work or school account password using security info
• Register the password reset verification method 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
• Requesting a Tenant Admin MFA Reset - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft authenticator sending me into a spiral - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft Authenticator app doesn't show 6-digit OTP code - Microsoft Q&A
• Work or school account help
• My Account portal for work or school accounts