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

Yeah this is greaaaaat design. I immediately asked our admin if we can go back to google apps. Seriously, what's wrong with MS...

2FA is deactivated on our domain. Nobody should have this problem. It has been automatically forced for our company since today. Users are locked out of their account because the authenticator they just installed needs the code from the authenticator which is not set up to set up the authenticator.

Yeah this sentence almost doesn't mean anything with the stupid sh*t MS just sent our way.

Personnally I think we should go back to office 2016 and google apps, if microsoft can just shut down our access like this.

Ben Corr,

I haven't been clear that my aid here mostly relates to the consumer version of the Authenticator app, since this operates differently than when used with the Azure directory back-end used for Work or School accounts and as such, can cause confusion when discussed in these forums intended for consumers.

We can usually determine that Azure is involved when people mention they receive 6-digit rather than the 8-digit codes received by personal account holders, but obviously that's not been mentioned here due to the lack of functionality you're all experiencing.

Since it appears it's likely at least some of you have Work or School accounts, it's really the responsibility of admin or other IT support to deal with these issues, since they should either have some form of direct Microsoft support channel or at least a better idea how to access this than individual users like consumers.

The trouble-shooting for these is also different for the very reasons you've mentioned, so that's not something most here are aware of due to the fact that personal accounts are managed directly by the user himself in their online account profile.

Rob

Hey Rob,

Thanks for your answer. I must say I was a bit salty yesterday, and maybe I was not the most diplomatic. In the meantime our admin has managed to stop 2FA.

I also now understand why the issue happened. The user had an authenticator previously configured on another phone, but didn't remember it.

But the message should be more clear. When I try to set up the authenticator, and it asks me for authenticator authorization, I feel like I am in the world of Kafka. It should have a different message in this case, so it does not feel like a bug. But anyway, it's solved on our end.

Ben.

Thanks for the reply with what you discovered Ben. It's likely that might aid some others experiencing the problem realize they also had authenticator configured on a previous phone as well.

As to why the message isn't clearer, as a past network administrator myself, I often experienced similar confusing messages when unexpected situations occur. I'm not trying to defend Microsoft here, just state that in some cases it's not possible for the app involved (i.e., authenticator) to properly identify what's causing it to fail.

That's when only someone who's managed to find the true problem like yourself can help others by telling them what the deeper issue might be.

Rob

For me I realized I just tried to sign into azure and it suddenly worked. I believe something was quietly fixed.

Overall, even for one user accounts like mine, I’m the admin and should not be referred to some other admin, at least the system should know such accounts and provide the other options. The problem is the other options do not show up in some cases especially with something like azure. Also the Authenticator appears to have different policies when using Microsoftonline vs live.

Yes Chidi,

The confusion using the Authenticator app with Azure versus the Personal Microsoft accounts that most consumer users coming to these forums would require are that the initial setup, management and portions of the operation for these configurations are each slightly different.

Add personal Microsoft accounts to the Microsoft Authenticator app - Microsoft Support

Add your work or school account to the Microsoft Authenticator app - Microsoft Support

That's why I was initially providing confusing suggestions myself, since I only truly became aware of these subtle differences through other threads over the time I was responding to this thread.

The problem for small organization admins as you mentioned is that they are sometimes the only user as well, since certain Azure small business accounts are created by that single user for themselves.

Unfortunately, these same users often find themselves in these consumer forums, since they're inexperienced and don't realize that the Azure accounts they've created are typically supported via the Microsoft Learn - Q&A - Azure forums found at the link provided in the following document discussing the Microsoft Authenticator app when used with Azure - Work or School accounts.

Common questions about the Microsoft Authenticator app - Microsoft Support

As you'll notice in that same document about Authenticator, the following second paragraph indicates that the Microsoft Authenticator app replaced the Azure Authenticator app, which though it undoubtedly made the technical support for both of these platforms simpler, it unintentionally lead to a huge set of user support issues relating to these often-subtle differences, leading to threads exactly like this one.

"The Microsoft Authenticator app replaced the Azure Authenticator app, and it's the recommended app when you use two-step verification. The Authenticator app is available for Android and iOS."

I hope this post summarizes the issues and helps remove some of the confusion my own involvement in this thread has caused.

Rob