My Microsoft Authenticator was registered on my old phone.

Question

“My Microsoft Authenticator was registered on my old phone. I now have a new phone, and I cannot sign in because the approval notification is still going to the old device. I need my old Authenticator registration removed and my multifactor authentication reset so I can register the new phone. Can you please help me reset or re-register my MFA?”

Answer 1

Hello Manu Kanwar

I understand that the approval requests are still being sent to your old phone, preventing you from registering Microsoft Authenticator on your new device.

If no alternative verification method appears during sign-in, this requires an account-level MFA reset that cannot be performed through the Community forum nor Support. But you can still contact Microsoft Support for further insight on this issue

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.  

1. Open a website link - Contact - Microsoft Support 
2. In the box below "We're here to help", type Microsoft 365, click "Get Help", and then click "Contact Support" below. 
3. In this section, you will need to sign in to your Microsoft account. 
4. Select "Microsoft 365 and Office" under Products & Services, select "Technical Support" as the category, and click to confirm 
5. You can select " Chat with a support agent in your web browser " to access the chat window. 

I hope you find the support you need, have a nice day.

Answer 2

If this is a personal Microsoft account, the old Authenticator registration can be removed and the new phone can be set up as follows:

1. If possible, try the old phone first. The approval prompt may still be going there because Authenticator was last used on that device.
2. If another sign-in method is available, use it to sign in to your account security settings.
3. In the two-step verification area, turn off verification for the old device so Microsoft stops sending notifications there.
4. On the new phone, open Microsoft Authenticator, choose Add Account > Personal Microsoft Account, and sign in again to re-register the device for notifications.
5. Keep the old phone until sign-in works on the new phone.

If this is a work or school account, self-service reset might not be available:

1. If the account was restored to the new phone and shows "Sign in to add your account.", open that account in Authenticator and sign in again to complete setup.
2. If the old phone is unavailable and there is no other verification method, contact the organization’s IT admin or help desk. They may need to reset the MFA registration so the new phone can be registered.
3. If the organization allows it, go to My Profile or Security info and remove the old method, then add the new phone.
4. To stop notifications going to the old work or school device, remove the old device from the two-step verification area of My Apps or the organization’s company portal.

Important details:

• Adding Authenticator on a new phone does not automatically remove it from the old phone.
• Deleting the app from the old phone alone is not enough; the old device must also be unregistered from the account.
• For work or school accounts, backup/restore brings back the account name, but sign-in is still required again on the new phone.

---

• Microsoft Authenticator FAQs
• Transfer Microsoft Authenticator account entries to a new phone
• Use a screen reader to set up and troubleshoot multifactor authentication
• Set up multifactor authentication for your Microsoft 365 account