Microsoft 365 features that help users manage their subscriptions, account settings, and billing information.
Because the tenant andystepas.onmicrosoft.com has only one Global Administrator and that admin has lost all MFA methods, this is a tenant lockout scenario that must be handled by Microsoft’s Data Protection team.
The recovery path is:
- Contact Microsoft support by phone
- Use the global customer service phone numbers listed here: global support phone numbers or Find Microsoft 365 for business support phone numbers by country or region.
- When navigating the automated system, clearly state that this is an Authenticator / MFA issue for an Office 365 / Microsoft 365 for business or company account, that this is a tenant administrator account, and that there are no other administrators.
- Ask explicitly to open a service request and to be routed to the Data Protection team (sometimes called Data Protection / Tenant Recovery) for an admin MFA reset / tenant lockout.
- Verify identity with the Data Protection team
- The Data Protection team has specific tools and processes to verify identity and confirm ownership of the tenant when the only Global Admin is locked out.
- After verification, they can reset or clear the MFA registration for the admin account so new authentication methods can be configured.
- If unable to reach support directly, use a temporary trial tenant (workaround)
- If phone support cannot be reached or does not correctly route the case, create a new trial Microsoft 365 tenant (separate from andystepas.onmicrosoft.com) as described in the context.
- Sign in to the admin center of this new trial tenant and open a support ticket from there.
- In the ticket, clearly state that the issue is with a different existing tenant (andystepas.onmicrosoft.com), that this is a tenant lockout and that the requester is the only Global Administrator who has lost MFA methods. Request escalation to the Data Protection team for admin MFA reset / tenant recovery.
Once Data Protection completes verification, they can restore access by resetting MFA for the Global Admin on andystepas.onmicrosoft.com. After regaining access, configure multiple MFA methods (for example, Authenticator plus phone, or other methods) and consider adding an additional Global Admin or break-glass account to avoid future lockouts.
References:
- Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account
- You don't receive a text or voice call that contains the verification code for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication
- Global Admin Locked out - Microsoft Q&A
- Severity A Situation - Locked out of global admin account (MFA) - business down - Microsoft Q&A
- I have a Micrsoft business account and I am the admin and the only user registered under this account. I can't log in because i have replaced my phone and the authenticator doesn't work. - Microsoft Q&A
- How Do I Regain Access to My Account After Losing Access to Microsoft Authenticator? (Urgent Request). - Microsoft Q&A
- Requesting a Tenant Admin MFA Reset - Microsoft Q&A
- Preventing tenant lockouts
- Mandatory multifactor authentication for Azure and admin portals
- Discover your Microsoft cloud footprint FAQ