Sole Global Administrator locked out after losing Authenticator device – MFA recovery required

Question

I am the sole Global Administrator of a Microsoft Entra tenant.

My previous mobile phone containing the Microsoft Authenticator registration is permanently unavailable. I have a new phone, but the old Authenticator registration was not transferred.

I know the administrator password and have successfully changed it. However, after password authentication Microsoft still requires either approval through the Authenticator registration on the old device or a 6-digit verification code.

“Sign in another way” does not provide SMS, email, phone, or any other usable authentication method.

There is no other Global Administrator who can reset my authentication methods.

The tenant does not have a paid Azure subscription. I do, however, control the organization’s custom domain and DNS and can prove domain ownership if required.

I need assistance recovering access to the tenant and re-registering MFA on my new phone. If verification of tenant ownership or escalation to the Microsoft Data Protection / Tenant Recovery team is required, please contact me through a private message so I can provide the necessary account and organization information securely.

I will not post passwords, authentication codes, tenant identifiers, phone numbers, or other sensitive information publicly.

Answer 1

Please note that this forum is not Microsoft support, this is a user-to-user support forum. Therefore, I cannot directly escalate this for you. However, I can guide you how to contact Data Protection team.

Hi @Bassam Zaher

In this situation, you will need to contact Data Protection team. They can help you regain access to your tenant.

Please visit the following page and reach out to phone number via: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support

From what I know, you will need to get past the initial AI system to reach the live support team. You can refer to the guide below for tips on how to get through more easily:

If you have tried phone support and it's not working, please follow this link to create a trial tenant: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-business-basic?msockid=3eb6980b5c6860e63a588d0c5d1761d6 - 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 "Help & support" icon to raise your ticket.      

Please mention that you are raising ticket on behalf of the affected tenant that you do not have access to.

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

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