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jackliuau's avatar
jackliuau
Copper Contributor
Jan 02, 2026

Cannot setup phone sign in with Microsoft Authenticator

Hi All, My new Redmi Turbo 4 was working with Microsoft authenticator, but in the past month, it started malfunctioning, so I decided to reset the authenticator app and sign back into it.    Now I...
security
Lucaraheller's avatar
Lucaraheller
MCT
Feb 06, 2026

There is no shadow ban or restriction specifically targeting Chinese Android devices.

What you’re describing is typically related to one of the following:

  1. The old device is still registered as the primary authentication method
    If the old phone is still listed under your Security info in your Microsoft account, push notifications may still be tied to that device. You may need to remove the old Authenticator device completely before registering the new one.
  2. Phone sign-in must be re-enabled
    After resetting the app, phone sign-in is not automatically restored. Open Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone, add the account again, and explicitly enable “Phone sign-in” from the account settings inside the app.
  3. Notification permissions or battery optimization
    Some Android builds (especially MIUI/HyperOS variants) aggressively restrict background apps. Make sure:
  • Notifications are enabled for Authenticator
  • Battery optimization is disabled for the app
  • Background activity is allowed
  • Auto-start is enabled

If push notifications are blocked by the OS, sign-in requests will not appear.

  1. Device registration in Entra ID
    For work or school accounts, the device may need to be properly registered in Entra ID. Check under:
    Entra ID → Devices
    or via https://mysignins.microsoft.com/security-info

Ensure the new device appears and is not marked as disabled.

  1. Work account Conditional Access
    If this is a work account, Conditional Access policies may require the device to be compliant or registered before allowing phone sign-in.

Recommended steps:

  • Remove the old device from Security info
  • Remove and re-add the account on the new phone
  • Enable phone sign-in again
  • Verify push notifications work (test with a login attempt)

If it still fails, try switching temporarily to password + OTP method and then re-enable passwordless after confirming device registration.

This is almost always a registration or OS permission issue — not a hardware or country restriction.