Formatted Phone and Cannot access the Global Admin account since I need 2 step authentication and I have no backup

Question

I formatted my phone and lost the Microsoft authenticator app for my Global Admin account and there is no backup available.

Now I need to access my account but I need to authenticate since the ‘2 step authentication’ is set up. I still have my email password and access to the recovery email but had not set it up as an option to receive the verification code.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum!

You can try to ask another cloud services admin to reset your Multi-Factor Authentication settings:

To do this, the admin should follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the cloud service portal as an admin.
2. Go to https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/usermanagement/multifactorverification.aspx.
3. Select the check box for the admin account whose Multi-Factor Authentication settings you want to reset.
4. Select Manage user settings.
5. Select the Require selected users to provide contact methods again check box, and then select Save.

More details please refer to:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/entra/entra-id/mfa/cannot-use-mfa-signin-lose-phone?source=recommendations

Please feel free to contact me for any updates. And if this helps, don't forget to mark it as an answer.

Answer 2

Hi,

You may need to recover your account.

Go to the Microsoft account recovery page.

Enter your account email address and select "Next."

Select "I don't have any of these" when prompted for authentication methods.

Follow the prompts to fill out the account recovery form with as much information as possible.

You can refer to:https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/help-with-the-microsoft-account-recovery-form-b19c02d1-a782-dee6-93c3-dc8113b20c42