Retrieve backpup codes from my authenticator.

Question

Hello, I lost my phone on a accident and when I installed the authenticator on the new devide, by mistake I overwrote my backup for a blank new one with no codes at all.

Its there a away to acess this overwrote backup or make a swap between the correct backup and the blank one?

Answer 1

Once a new, empty Microsoft Authenticator backup has been created and saved to the cloud, the previous backup cannot be accessed, restored, or swapped back. Authenticator only keeps a single backup per account and device type, so overwriting it with a blank backup permanently replaces the old one.

To move forward:

1. Re-add accounts manually
   • For Microsoft personal, work, or school accounts: sign in again and complete the required verification for each account. After restore, only the account names are available for some account types, and sign-in is required again to fully re-enable them.
   • For 3rd party accounts (Amazon, Facebook, Gmail, etc.): use each service’s own recovery options (backup codes, SMS, email, or support) to set up new one-time password entries in Authenticator.
2. Reconfigure backup correctly (after accounts are restored)
   • On iOS: ensure iCloud Drive, iCloud Keychain, and iCloud Backup are enabled and that Authenticator is turned on in the “Saved to iCloud” list, then enable backup in Authenticator.
   • On Android: in Authenticator Settings, turn on Cloud Backup, choose the correct Microsoft account, and let it create a fresh backup.

If a backup cannot be restored for any reason, accounts must be added again using each provider’s recovery process; there is no supported way to recover a previous overwritten Authenticator backup.

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References:

• Back up your accounts in Microsoft Authenticator
• Back up account credentials in Microsoft Authenticator
• Restore account credentials from Microsoft Authenticator