Cannot approve my autheticator request on the same device i need it for

Question

I have my authenticator downloaded on my phone but since I just got a new phone all my data transferred over. Because of this i have been signed out of all of my accounts on the authenticator and I cannot approve any of my sign ins

Answer 1

This is expected after moving Microsoft Authenticator to a new phone.

• For work or school accounts, only the account name is restored. The account must be opened in Authenticator and signed in again to complete setup. If Authenticator shows "Sign in to add your account", open that account and sign in again.
• For personal Microsoft accounts that use passwordless sign-in, only the account name is restored and sign-in is required again.
• If the sign-in approval is being sent to the old phone, approve it there if it is still available. Notifications are often sent to the device where Authenticator was last used.
• If the old phone is not available, choose a different verification method such as SMS, if that option is offered.

Recommended path:

1. Open Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone.
2. For each restored account, tap the account and select Sign in.
3. Complete the extra verification prompts.
4. If approval requests still do not appear on the new phone, check the old phone and approve there if possible.
5. After access is restored, remove the old phone’s Authenticator registration or old security info so future prompts do not go there.

If Restore from backup was not completed, restore first using the same recovery account used for backup. On Android, select Restore from backup or Begin recovery before signing in. If those options do not appear, remove or sign out of all accounts in Authenticator, then restore.

If this is a work or school account and no alternate method works, the organization’s admin may need to require re-registration of multifactor authentication so the account can be set up again on the new phone. Note: this removes existing MFA methods and requires setup again on the next sign-in.

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• Transfer Microsoft Authenticator account entries to a new phone
• Restore account credentials from Microsoft Authenticator
• Microsoft Authenticator FAQs
• Transfer Microsoft Authenticator account entries to a new phone
• Transfer Microsoft Authenticator account entries to a new phone
• I can't verify on my new authenticator app - Microsoft Q&A
• Sign in in authenticator app is not working - Microsoft Q&A