Can't connect Galaxy S20+ to Windows 10 PC - "We're having issues authenticating your devices"

Anonymous
2020-12-03T05:15:00+00:00

I'm trying to link my Galaxy S20+ to my Windows 10 PC via the Your Phone Windows app and am getting the following error as soon as I select "Android" and click Continue: 

In the Link to Windows settings on my phone, I click "Add computer" and scan the QR code, which takes me to this endless loading screen that says - "Check your PC - We're checking one more thing on your PC before we ask for a final permission":

Additionally, when I click "Done" on my PC, it also has an endless loading wheel.

Both my phone and PC are connected to the same WiFi network.

Troubleshooting I've tried:

  • Restarted my PC
  • Restarted my phone
  • Logged into my Microsoft account in the browser and removed my linked phone
  • Clicked the Repair button in the Your Phone app settings on my PC
  • Clicked the Reset button in the Your Phone app settings on my PC
  • Clicked the Terminate button in the Your Phone app settings on my PC
  • Uninstalled Your Phone via Powershell and reinstalled it on my PC
  • Updated my drivers on my PC
  • Allowed Your Phone to run in background on my PC
  • Turned on Share Across Devices on my PC
  • Disabled Battery Saver on my PC
  • Force Stopped, Cleared Cache, and Cleared Data for Your Phone Companion on my phone
  • Removed the Your Phone Companion Microsoft account from Link to Windows settings on my phone
  • Turned on notifications for Your Phone on my phone
  • Turned on Your Phone under Accessibility settings on my phone
  • Made sure that Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, and networking metering are all turned off in my phone
  • Reset network settings in my phone
  • Went into my router settings and set my DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
  • Performed an in-place "Upgrade Now" Windows re-install

Any help would be appreciated!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-12-04T03:36:01+00:00

    Yes, that would be my guess. It's very strange though as I got this phone two weeks ago and have never logged into that school account with it.

    Out of curiosity, I checked with my old school earlier today, and they did indeed deactivate my .edu email account two days ago (standard procedure I suppose after a certain period of inactivity) - which is exactly when the Your Phone issues started.

    Again, I have no idea how Windows got the wires crossed on this one and determined that an authentication error with an unrelated school account = an authentication error with Your Phone.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-12-04T03:21:53+00:00

    Is it possible it was trying to authenticate against the old school account? The reason I ask is I'm not sure how another account could interfere with this.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-12-04T03:05:32+00:00

    When I logged in this morning, there was a pop-up - I think just a Windows system pop-up - that said something about one of my accounts needing authentication. I was kind of groggy and clicked through it. But suddenly the word "accounts" rang a bell in my head and made me remember my old school account that I'd linked, which is what inspired me to check my School and Work Accounts settings and ultimately discover the culprit.

    In other words, I'm not sure where the "accounts needing authentication" pop-up this morning stemmed from (i.e. the Your Phone app vs. an unrelated system process). For whatever reason, though, this morning was the first time it appeared - in my previous two days of troubleshooting, all the Your Phone alerts referred to having issues with authenticating "devices", and never mentioned the word "accounts".

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-12-04T02:07:17+00:00

    Did you see any signs as to why an older unused account was interfering with authenticating Your Phone with a completely different personal account? This would be really important to know, to help others. Thanks.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-12-04T01:55:14+00:00

    I hadn't used the school email account in over a year. I'd honestly forgotten it was even linked. This whole time I've been trying to link my phone via my day-to-day admin email - I checked the School and Work accounts settings this morning on a whim, which is where I discovered that there was a connection problem with the school account.

    I think you may be on to something with the school and work accounts overreaching with their group policies.

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