Processes in Microsoft 365 for setting up Office apps, redeeming product keys, and activating licenses.
Your organization’s IT administrator must clear the old Authenticator registration and require MFA re-registration, after which you can connect the new phone and sign in to Teams and Outlook.
Reinstalling Authenticator does not restore credentials for a work or school account; it may restore only the account name, and the account must be registered again.^1^
Ask your IT help desk to reset MFA
Send the administrator this request:
My old Microsoft Authenticator installation is unavailable, and I have no alternate verification method. Please require MFA re-registration for my account so I can register Authenticator on my new phone.
An administrator with at least the Authentication Policy Administrator role can perform these steps:
- Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.
- Go to Users and select your account.
- Select Authentication methods.
- Select Require re-register for multifactor authentication.
- Select OK.^2^
After the reset:
- Install Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone.
- Sign in to Microsoft 365 with your work email and password.
- When prompted to set up security information, choose Microsoft Authenticator.
- In Authenticator, add a Work or school account and scan the QR code displayed by Microsoft 365.
- Complete the test approval.
- Open Teams and Outlook and sign in again.
If another verification option appears
Before contacting IT, you can use Sign in another way or I can’t use my Microsoft Authenticator app right now if the sign-in page offers it. Choose an already-registered SMS number, phone call, security key, passkey, or other method. Once signed in, add the new Authenticator registration and remove the unavailable old one.^3^
Since your Security info page itself requests the old Authenticator code, this option works only if another method was previously registered. Installing the app again by itself will not generate the old account’s valid approval prompts.
If you are the only Microsoft 365 administrator
If no other administrator can reset your MFA, contact Microsoft Support and request recovery for a locked-out tenant administrator. Microsoft must verify tenant ownership before restoring administrative access.^4^
After access is restored, register at least one additional authentication method so losing one phone does not cause another lockout. Microsoft recommends multiple authentication methods for each user.^5^
References
- [Android](https://support.microsoft.com/authenticator/restore-account-credentials-from-microsoft-authenticator#what-information-is-restored-in-authenticator)
- Troubleshoot combined security information registration
- Unable to log into Authenticator app - Microsoft Q&A
- Can not access my authentiactor app on new phone - Microsoft Q&A
- Recover user authentication methods using Microsoft Entra Backup and Recovery