Authenticator app error code "device token is empty"

Question

I recently got a new iPhone and now have to register my account anew on the Microsoft authenticator app. So I asked the administrator on this shared email account to send me a new QR code and I got the error message "device token is empty".

After looking into this issue, I thought that the problem might be that there are too many devices on this account. So the administrator removed one device. I received the same error message with the new QR code.

Then I saw that there seem to be issues with the authenticator app and the new IOS software, so I took my old iphone, reset it back to its old settings (unfortunately I had already wiped the phone), and tried to set up the Microsoft authenticator app anew. I got the same "device token is empty" error message.

I do not know what to do at this point to rectify the situation. I have also tried entering the token number manually rather than scanning the QR code but this has also not been successful.

Thank you for your help.
L

Answer 1

The solution is to have the user uninstall then reinstall Microsoft Authenticator, then scan the QR code again. Because Apple transfer the software with the same token from the previous device, it causes an authentication issue.
Be sure to first go into Azure, then choose the users, the select Require re-register multifactor authentication. Also, in the Microsoft Admin portal I would suggest resetting multi-factor authentication for said user.

Answer 2

I had the same issue with a co-worker. We deleted the app, the account in the app, deleted all the info in Azure. Tried to register the phone again and nothing worked!! When we were really out of options, the only thing I could come up with, was to reset the iPhone. After we've done that, IT WORKED!!! I wish I've come up with this idea earlier, that would have saved us some time and annoyance.

Answer 3

Deleting the app (after checking recovery is working and iCloud back up is on) then restarting recovery worked!