I've lost access to Microsoft authenticator app

Question

Hi
I've lost access to my Microsoft authenticator app after resetting my phone and now every sign in options (for microsoft 365 cloud pc) are related to the app.
I can't log in to my account for removing MFA and I'm the only user of that.
I've tried changing password but there isn't any change.
Please help me to sign back into the account.
Kind regards.

Answer 1

Sailing in the same boat. I used Microsoft developer's account. Lost my previous phone and had no access to it. Contacted Micosoft to help me out, the rep I spoke to advised that if you have not backed up your authenticator app, you will lose all of your information. On my second connect with Microsoft, he advised to send a feedback using Authenticator app on my new phone and someone will fix the issue in 24 hours. I sent the feedback explaining the issue. I am still waiting it is almost 5 days. I believe, he himself didn't know what he was suggesting.

Also, when I clicked forgot password, it sends a code to verify on the app itself. and if I say no access to the code, it still sends code to the app. The experience and mechanism is dumb.

My verdict: Microsoft does not know how to do it or the two staff members I spoke to were not up-to the standard. The UI needs some extra use case.

Answer 2

You can also try to sign in to your account but select the Sign in another way link on the Two-factor verification page. (note: If you don't see the Sign in another way link, it means that you haven't set up any other verification methods.)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/common-problems-with-two-step-verification-for-a-work-or-school-account-63acbb9b-16a1-47b9-8619-6a865e8071a5

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Answer 3

For Work or School Account:

you can use an Temporary Access Pass that your azure admin generates for your account

Temporary Access Pass is considered MFA and allow you to connect and set up Authenticator without extra security prompts

see howto-authentication-temporary-access-pass

Answer 4

You can restore from backup (assuming there was one) but make sure no accounts have been added to the newly install app. Then sign on with recovery account to do the restore.

You can recover your account credentials from your cloud account, but you must first make sure that the account you're recovering doesn't exist in the Microsoft Authenticator app. For example, if you're recovering your personal Microsoft account, you must make sure you don't have a personal Microsoft account already set up in the authenticator app. This check is important so we can be sure we're not overwriting or erasing an existing account by mistake.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/back-up-and-recover-account-credentials-in-the-authenticator-app-bb939936-7a8d-4e88-bc43-49bc1a700a40

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Answer 5

If there are no backups to recover from then the only solution is to use the service provider's methods of account recovery.

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