Forum Discussion
Authenticator app not working on new phone - old phone with app is gone
Hello Tech Community,
I have trouble with my email (hotmail) account.
About 12 months ago I downloaded and activated the authenticator app after having hackers trying to enter my hotmail account. A few months ago I changed my phone and I have never been asked for second factor authentication until today (so I did not pay much attention to it as I could see it. The phone number attached is old and have no access to it and that device is long gone too).
BIG PROBLEM!
I have the app on my new phone but it is not linked to my account (and cannot do a Cloud Recovery). If I try to do anything with my account (forward emails or change anything) it asks me for the authenticator approval/code (that I do not have access to).
I am scared about doing something that will log me out of my email (which I still have access to) but cannot make any changes nor log out.
Please help.
Can I deactivate the authenticator app somehow? or re-set it-up to work again?
Can I migrate all my emails to a new account so I do not lose years of information if I get logged out?
Can I set the forwarding emails option without having to pass by second facto authentication?
Looking forward to hearing from you wise community,
Thank you
- Thank you.
I contacted them and they send me here. Also, they keep sending me to different contact support teams but very difficult to have them in a live chat.
They say there is nothing to do. But I cannot believe that.I am in the same boat. This is very frustrating! I am an admin trying to log into my account, however, I recently got a new phone and the authenticator app is still registered to my old device. Of course as an admin I need the authenticator app to sign in to everything. I am stuck in this authentication loop where the authenticator app needs an authentication code from itself. I can't log in to change the settings or contact support. What do I do???!!
Xinyu_GuMicrosoft
I met the same problem. I need the Authenticator app to log in to my M365 Developer Program admin account. But the app doesn't work after I changed my phone. I've contacted Microsoft support and they said they needed business license of the enterprise tenant to release my account. But since this is developer program, I don't have a business license. Don't know what to do next...
I understand how frustrating and concerning this situation must be. Losing access to important accounts like email can be a real headache. Here's what I would suggest doing:
Firstly, let's focus on regaining access to your Hotmail account. Since you've changed phones and can't access the authenticator app, your best bet is to try to reset the authentication method associated with your account. You can usually do this by going through the account recovery process provided by Hotmail. They'll likely ask you to verify your identity through alternative means, such as providing personal information or answering security questions. Once you've verified your identity, you should be able to either deactivate the authenticator app or set it up again with your new phone.
Regarding migrating your emails to a new account, Hotmail doesn't provide a direct feature for this. However, you can manually transfer your emails by forwarding them to your new email address or by using an email client to download them and then upload them to your new account. It's a bit tedious, but it ensures you won't lose any important information.
As for setting up email forwarding without going through second-factor authentication, unfortunately, most email providers, including Hotmail, require authentication for security reasons. However, once you regain access to your account and update your authentication method, you can set up email forwarding as needed.
