Can’t login to my email

Rebekah Joe 0 Reputation points
2026-09-30T20:04:45.71+00:00

I have an email for work. [Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed]@aercmn.com anytime i try to sign in on outlook, it takes me to the authenticator app and say “open your authenticator app and approve this request” but at that point, I’m already in the authenticator app. So how do I go to an app I’m already in. And I’ve tried clocking cancel and I tried clicking literally any of the buttons on the screen that I possibly could to get it to work and it won’t. I tried emailing IT at work but I can’t even see their responses because I used my work email to email them in the first place but I’ve since stopped being able to receive emails. So, can you make your authenticator app work? It’s actually making me so angry.

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for iOS | For business
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  1. Ivory 1,825 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-30T20:16:24.57+00:00

    Hi Rebekah,

    From what you've described, it sounds like your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) settings may need to be reset.

    Since you're using a work account, MFA is managed by your organization's IT administrator and cannot be reset by end users.

    If your organization requires Microsoft Authenticator for MFA, alternative verification methods may not be available unless they were previously configured by your IT team.

    I recommend contacting your organization's IT administrator or help desk, either through your personal email or another available contact method. Let them know that you're unable to sign in because you're no longer receiving approval notifications or verification codes from the Microsoft Authenticator app. They can review your MFA settings and help restore access to your account.

    You can specifically ask whether they can:

    • Reset your MFA settings
    • Require MFA re-registration
    • Remove your existing Authenticator registration so you can set it up again

    You may also want to share the following Microsoft article with them: Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication - Microsoft Entra ID | …

    Once your IT administrator resets your MFA registration, you should be able to sign in again and go through the Microsoft Authenticator setup process from the beginning, including scanning a new QR code on your device.

    I hope this points you in the right direction. If you receive any updates from your IT team or run into any issues along the way, feel free to reply back with more details and I'll be happy to help further.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-30T20:05:08.25+00:00

    For a work account, this is usually an MFA setup or sign-in flow issue, not something that can be fixed from inside Outlook alone.

    Try these steps first:

    1. Open Microsoft Authenticator manually and check whether a prompt is already waiting inside the app.
      • In some cases, the sign-in is waiting for a number match or approval inside Authenticator even if no separate pop-up appears.
    2. Make sure Authenticator is unlocked.
      • If the app is locked, the approval entry box might not appear.
    3. Check that notifications are enabled for Microsoft Authenticator.
      • Silent or disabled notifications can prevent the approval prompt from appearing.
    4. Update Microsoft Authenticator from the device app store.
      • An outdated app can cause authentication to fail.
    5. Restart the phone, then try signing in again.
    6. Verify the phone has a working internet connection.
      • If needed, switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
    7. Check that the phone date and time are correct.

    If sign-in still loops back to Authenticator after that, the likely fix is for the organization’s IT admin or help desk to reset or update the work account’s MFA methods. For work or school accounts, if self-service password reset is allowed, the password can be reset here: Reset password.

    If too many sign-in attempts were made, Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication can temporarily block more attempts. In that case, wait and try again later, or use a different MFA method if one is available.

    If there is no access to any other verification method and no access to IT responses, contact the organization’s IT help desk by a method other than the work mailbox, because work-account MFA changes must be handled by the organization.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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