Microsoft Authenticator is asking me to authenticate using Microsoft Authenticator to use Microsoft Authenticator

Anonymous
2023-01-28T00:02:56+00:00

So first of all... Why is "microsoft Authenticator" not an option in the "Products" dropdown when choosing where this post should go? I'm just going to choose "Windows"... Sorry not sorry.

Also, I can't take a screenshot on the microsoft Authenticator app without it capturing a black image (thanks,) so here is an extremely low resolution webcam picture of my phone screen.

When I click "Passwords" section on the microsoft authenticator app, I see a button that says "Sign In".

So, I click the button, to sign in. Then, it asks me to authenticate using microsoft authenticator, but I am not signed in, and this is a "sensitive" page, so I have to enter the code displayed into microsoft authenticator, BUT I AM ON MICROSOFT AUTHENTICATOR ALREADY!!! Who designed this terrible app??? Cheap labor resources then you expect us to prefer microsoft edge over Chrome? LOL

Also, when I search my own question in "Bing", it doesn't come up, even if I type the title word for word. Does it go through some sort of not-mentioned approval process before my post becomes actually visible to the public, or is Bing just extremely bad at updating its search results in a timely manner?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-05-22T22:52:50+00:00

    MAY 22, 2025

    Two years later, this issue has not been addressed by Microsoft. I have a previously created account that I've used for years prior to today, but when I signed in to my Microsoft account, I was asked to authenticate my sign-in using Microsoft Authenticator. After redownloading the application, Microsoft Authenticator asked me to authenticate my sign-in using Microsoft Authenticator, the exact platform I am trying to sign into and access my account. Posts on this thread simply say to use another sign-in option to bypass Microsoft Authenticator. Unfortunately, my account only has two options available, and both require being previously signed into Microsoft Authenticator. I am upset, as I have urgent matters to take care of right now, but instead I am trying to solve this issue. Microsoft is valued at over $3T and has one of the most simple yet infuriating "infinite loop" sign-in problems that I thought the Internet solved over a decade ago.

    If I had kept Microsoft Authenticator signed in previously, this would not be an issue, but since Microsoft Authenticator requires a Microsoft sign-in to use, and therefore authentication to confirm my identity, I cannot access my account. Furthermore, there is no mention of this issue in FAQs or anywhere on official Microsoft platforms, yet I know at least 2952 people have this same question.

    UPDATE: Reddit says contact account administrator or IT department of organization in order to reset multifactor authentication (MFA).

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-06-12T15:23:22+00:00

    I have always wondered the same thing. It's really crazy. They want you to authenticate something that needs to be set up to authenticate but you can't authenticate what you don't have access to because it won't let you authenticate without a code...

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-06-24T10:55:38+00:00

    Thank you, life-saver!

    One specific case for some people (with Work/School account): your admins may have restricted your Microsoft Authenticator setup method to be by QR code, not sign in. If so, when setting up Authenticator on your mobile, select QR code as the option. Then go to the Security Info section in the Microsoft admin interface (https://aka.ms/mysecurity), select Add a sign-in method, then follow the onscreen instructions to sign in with a QR code.

    This avoided the endless authentication loop that I had been stuck in, like others in this thread.

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