Microsoft Authenticator

Question

I am trying to help a friend login to his Microsoft account. He setup his account through GoDaddy and recently purchased a Microsoft 365 subscription through GoDaddy. He had his Microsoft account linked to the Authenticator app pre 365 subscription purchase, and once he upgraded his subscription, the authenticator app is requiring him to re login to his account. The issue is that in trying to login to the Authenticator app, it is requiring either an authenticator code or authenticator approval in order to login, but we cannot get a code/approve the login because he no longer has Authenticator access for his account. It essentially is now in a death loop, and we cannot get access to the Authenticator app. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Dear @Tyler Smith

Based on your description, it sounds like your friend is caught in a common Microsoft Authenticator "loop". Since the Microsoft 365 subscription was purchased through GoDaddy, the recovery path depends on whether your friend can still access the GoDaddy administration portal and whether there is another administrator on the account.​‌

If your friend has access to the GoDaddy Email & Office dashboard and has administrative permissions or there is another admin account in your friend's tenant, they may be able to reset the affected user's MFA methods. Resetting MFA removes the old Authenticator registration and allows the account to be set up again with a new authentication method during the next sign-in. For reference: Reset my multi-factor authentication method | Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy

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If your friend is the only admin and has completely lost access to all MFA methods, then neither Microsoft Authenticator nor normal sign-in recovery will be able to bypass the MFA requirement. In that case, the account owner must contact GoDaddy Support (since the subscription was purchased through GoDaddy) and have the issue escalated for an MFA reset and account recovery. Only GoDaddy can verify your account ownership and assist with resetting the MFA configuration for the account.

Note: Please understand that as a forum moderator, my role is to provide general guidance and troubleshooting support. I don’t have access to internal systems or backend tools, and I appreciate your understanding of these limits.

I hope the information shared helps point you in the right direction. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Answer 2

This is a common MFA lockout loop. For a Microsoft 365 account hosted through GoDaddy, the supported path is to have the MFA settings reset by GoDaddy support.

Recommended order:

1. On the sign-in screen, check for any alternate verification options such as a different sign-in method.
2. If no alternate method is available and only Authenticator approval/code is offered, the account is effectively locked behind MFA.
3. Because the Microsoft 365 subscription is through GoDaddy, contact GoDaddy support and ask them to clear or reset the MFA settings for the account so Authenticator can be registered again.
4. After the reset, sign in again and re-register Microsoft Authenticator on the current phone.

Important details:

• For work or school accounts, if a phone is lost, replaced, or Authenticator access is gone, the documented recovery path is to sign in with a different method or have the organization Help desk clear the settings.
• If repeated sign-in attempts were made, Microsoft Entra MFA can temporarily block more attempts. In that case, wait and try again later, or use a different MFA method if one is available.
• If the account is blocked from registering Authenticator because of admin restrictions or Conditional Access, the administrator must allow the method.

In this GoDaddy-hosted scenario, the most relevant resolution in the provided material is the GoDaddy MFA reset path rather than trying to recover it only through the app.

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• Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
• Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
• How to add your accounts to Microsoft Authenticator
• Authenticator app problems - Microsoft Q&A
• Authenticator 2-digits in box rather than 6 digits has me locked out of my account and email - Microsoft Q&A