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I have a subscription to Office 365 (Exchange Online actually) and as part of setting up a new Android phone I lost access to the account in the MS Authenticator app:

It requires that I scan the QR code for the account to finish setting it up in the Authenticator app, but to do that I need to log in into the account first, which I cannot do because I'm prompted for a code from the Authenticator app... Chicken and egg problem.

I tried clicking "Sign in another way" but that only prompts me to enter a code from the Authenticator app - there are no options to send codes by email or text.

How can I recover this account?

I do know the password. The account's email is ***@***.onmicrosoft.com

There are no other admins who could help me, I'm the only user / account in the "organization".

I have tried calling Microsoft (several numbers I found online) but there is a voice menu from hell and it seems I can't talk to a person and the automated responses are not helpful.

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  • 1) Can you not access the app/notification from the old phone? 2) what happens when you go to aka.ms/mfasetup
    – gregg
    Commented 8 hours ago
  • You cannot. If you don’t have the QR code or the Secret Code then it’s not possible to get access to the MFA. You will have to remove the MFA from the account. We cannot help you with this problem
    – Ramhound
    Commented 7 hours ago
  • This is why I use multiple MFA applications that support account synchronization and use password services that support Passkeys (to bypass MFA) and themselves support MFA.
    – Ramhound
    Commented 7 hours ago
  • I'd be happy to remove the mfa from the account but I have to log in first which I am not able to do. I cannot access the mfa app on the old phone.
    – Kostya Vasilyev
    Commented 4 hours ago
  • The funny thing is that the account has automatic renewal enabled, so I'll still get charged for it... Easy to cancel if you have access to the account but I don't.
    – Kostya Vasilyev
    Commented 4 hours ago

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