Forum Discussion
Lost Backup with Authenticator App
I recently changed phones and followed Microsoft’s documented process for transferring my Authenticator accounts.
Before changing devices, I enabled cloud backup and confirmed that authenticator showed a successful backup dated 21 June. I then installed the app on the new phone, selected the recovery option, and signed in using the same Microsoft account. Both phones used the same operating system, and all required cloud settings were enabled.
Despite this, only two of my seven accounts were restored on the new phone.
The app on my old phone then stopped working. I disabled VPNs, cleared the cache, confirmed a stable internet connection, checked notification permissions, and ensured battery optimisation was not interfering. When none of this worked, I updated the app. After the update, the remaining account data had disappeared, leaving only the same two accounts restored on the new phone.
I followed the correct backup and recovery process. The app confirmed that the backup had completed successfully, yet five of seven accounts were not restored.
Is there any way to recover an earlier backup or should I assume that the data I need is lost because of this useless app?
2 Replies
Unfortunately, the five missing accounts cannot be recovered from Authenticator cloud backup. You are required to re‑add them manually using each service recovery process. Going forward, ensure multiple MFA recovery options are configured to avoid similar losses, support.microsoft.com/en-us/authenticator/back-up-your-accounts-in-microsoft-authenticator
Hello,
I’ve run into the same problem.
I lost the phone where I had set up 2FA using Microsoft Authenticator linked to this email address.
I had enabled cloud backup and tried to restore it to a new phone by carefully following the recovery options.
However, some very valuable and critical 2FA entries are still missing and were not restored.
