A Microsoft app for iOS and Android devices that enables authentication with two-factor verification, phone sign-in, and code generation
If the old phone was factory reset and there was no usable Authenticator backup, the account entries in Microsoft Authenticator cannot be recovered from that old app instance.
What can still be done:
- Try restoring only if a backup was previously enabled.
- Backup and restore only work on the same device type. An iOS backup cannot be restored to Android, and vice versa.
- On Android, backup must have been turned on in Microsoft Authenticator > Settings > Cloud Backup.
- On iOS, iCloud Drive, iCloud Keychain, iCloud Backup, and the Authenticator toggle in Saved to iCloud must have been enabled.
- If Restore from backup is available, use it before signing in.
- Open Authenticator on the new phone.
- Select Restore from backup or Begin recovery first.
- Sign in with the same personal Microsoft account used for the backup.
- If an account shows Sign in to restore your account or Sign in to add your account, open that account and sign in again.
- If no backup exists, add the accounts again.
- Since access to Gmail and other recovery methods is available, use each service’s recovery or alternate verification method to sign in.
- Then reconfigure two-step verification or add the new phone/Authenticator app again for each account.
- For work or school accounts, expect extra steps.
- Only the account name is restored for work or school accounts.
- After restore, each work or school account must be opened and signed in again.
- If access is blocked in a sign-in loop, the organization’s IT admin or help desk must reset MFA or allow re-registration.
- For personal Microsoft accounts and third-party accounts:
- Third-party accounts such as Gmail restore their one-time password entries only if they were included in backup.
- If there was no backup, those accounts must be re-added through each provider’s recovery flow.
If restore is not available or does not find anything, the practical path is to recover each account with the existing recovery methods and then set up Authenticator again on the new phone.
- Back up your accounts in Microsoft Authenticator
- Restore account credentials from Microsoft Authenticator
- Transfer Microsoft Authenticator account entries to a new phone
- I got a new phone, and my old one died. Now I can’t access my Authenticator app to get verification codes for login. It says view the code on the Authenticator App and there's no other 2FA linked to my account. How can I fix this? - Microsoft Q&A
- Accidentally Factory Reseted my phone - Microsoft Q&A