Remove account from Authenticator

Question

I followed the steps to remove an account and it deleted it from my screen but I still receive a ping and say Error. How do I completely remove it?

Answer 1

Removing the account from the Authenticator screen only clears the local entry; to stop the remaining approval notifications, unregister that Authenticator device from the account’s online security settings.^1^

Before removing the registration

Ensure another working sign-in method—such as SMS, phone call, security key, or another Authenticator device—is registered. A passwordless Authenticator method may require verification through another two-factor method before it can be deleted.^2^

For a work or school account

1. In a browser, open https://aka.ms/mysecurityinfo and sign in.
2. Find the Microsoft Authenticator method associated with this phone.
3. Select Delete and complete verification with your alternate method.
4. Restart Authenticator and confirm that approval requests for that account no longer reach the device.

Deleting the corresponding sign-in method removes its registered device token.^2^

If you cannot sign in or cannot delete the method, contact your organization’s IT administrator and ask them to require MFA re-registration for your account. An administrator can do this at:

Microsoft Entra admin center → Entra ID → Users → your user → Authentication methods → Require re-register multifactor authentication.^2^

For a personal Microsoft account

1. Open the Security page of your Microsoft account.
2. Go to the two-step verification area.
3. Locate the old Authenticator device and turn off verification for it.
4. Confirm that notifications no longer arrive on that phone.

Microsoft specifically requires both removing the app/account locally and telling the Microsoft account to forget the old device.^1^

If you want to erase every Authenticator account

This is destructive and cannot be undone; verify that all accounts have another sign-in method first.

• Android: Settings → Apps → Authenticator → Storage or Storage & cache → Clear data → OK
• iOS: Settings → General → Storage → Authenticator → Offload App

This removes all locally stored Authenticator accounts, not just the problematic one.^3^ It does not replace the online unregistration steps above.

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References

1. Microsoft Authenticator FAQs | Microsoft Support
2. Can't set up MFA because five devices are already registered to use an authenticator app
3. How to sign out from Authenticator | Microsoft Support