SSPR Password Reset Blocked by SMS Quota

Michael Smith 0 Reputation points
2026-09-29T14:46:53.3+00:00

Hi there, employees are currently unable to reset their passwords because the SSPR portal has exceeded its monthly SMS sending limit. What is the recommended way to increase the cloud provider’s messaging quota so that password reset verification messages can be delivered without interruption?

Windows for business | Windows Server | Devices and deployment | Configure application groups
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  1. Allan Solomon Mejia 10,225 Reputation points
    2026-09-29T15:27:03.2233333+00:00

    Hello @Michael Smith

    For standard Microsoft Entra workforce SSPR, there isn’t a customer-configurable monthly SMS quota or a “cloud provider messaging quota” that the tenant administrator can increase. Microsoft operates the telephony service and applies risk-based throttling to SMS and voice authentication requests to prevent fraud.

    Here are the recommended actions:

    1. Stop repeated SMS requests and retry later. For user-level SSPR throttling, wait 24 hours after the last blocked attempt in certain scenarios.
    2. Have affected users select another previously registered method, such as Microsoft Authenticator, software OATH, hardware OATH, or email OTP. I recommend registering multiple methods so users aren’t dependent on SMS.
    3. For users who remain blocked, a Password Administrator can reset the password through Microsoft Entra admin center > Entra ID > Users > Reset password. Hybrid users require password writeback, or you must perform the reset in on-premises Active Directory.
    4. If every user in the tenant or a particular country is affected, open a Microsoft support request. Some region codes require Microsoft to enable telephony verification, and only Microsoft Support can investigate service-side throttling or fraud protection.

    If this SSPR implementation uses a custom application or third-party SMS gateway rather than native Microsoft Entra SSPR, its quota must be handled with that provider. To distinguish those cases, we need the exact portal error and tenant type - workforce, External ID, or Azure AD B2C.

    References:

    Microsoft Entra telephony protections and throttling

    Troubleshoot SSPR

    How SSPR works and supported methods

    Reset a user’s password

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