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

Hi Folks, I'm having the same issue any fix yet, I'm using an organization account, can access office apps not able to access account info on desktop because of Authenticator and can't access the app because it is asking for authentication

To shed some light on this from a SysAdmin/IT Manager.

1. You do not need to sign in to the MS Authenticator app unless you are using the account to back up your authenticator connections. This is useful when transferring to a new phone or if your device gets factory reset or the app gets uninstalled.
2. When you add your work or school account for MFA, it is is by a url or QR Code and you do not need to sign into the app for this. Just go to the account in your Authenticator list and tap it to get your code. You can access this by tapping "Authenticator" at the bottom of the app.
3. If you still want to use your work account to login to Authenticator you will need to set up a secondary MFA such as a text message. Then select you don't have access to authenticator and use the alternative method.

The loop is just a misunderstanding of how the application works. If you are signing in to MS Authenticator (or anything really) with an MFA enabled account you will need to meet the requirement for strong authentication ether by conditional access policies set by IT such as being on a corporate trusted network or by completing the sign in challenges (Text, Call, Security Key, or Authenticator code). Allowing a sign in to authenticator without these requirements is a huge security risk and would lead to compromised accounts. What would prevent a hacker from using a brute force method on an authenticator to gain access to your account if this process wasn't in place.

We are reaching a point where passwords are meaningless and additional factors are absolutely necessary for all sign-ins. We only have ourselves to blame. When the most common passwords are things like 12345678 or password1 or forced complex passwords result in things like Password12345678! IT admins have no choice but to enact new methods to secure the org and its data. We really only have our own bad password habits to blame for the complexity being introduced for sign-in's.

Hello,

Read the thread, none of the solutions either seemed to apply to my situation, or work for me if they did.

I am using a Work account. Nothing has changed on our end since the last time I was previously signed in on this same device.
The authenticator app dropped my account info at some point in an app/phone update and is requiring me to re-sign in.

Every attempt to sign in asks me to confirm my sign-in with the authenticator app. Other options include 'sign in via code' (from the same authenticator app).

Can't access excel anymore until I resolve this, but I don't see a solution from this thread really being realistic? This seems very clearly like a back-end issue. Not to be impatient, but it looks very clearly like an unsolvable loop without developer intervention, does it not?

Ashley,

See both Adrian's and my own last posts on the previous page [3] of this thread, since Adrian's discoveries in the Q&A forum and my own link to that forum are the correct path for those with Work or School accounts to take, as these forums are only intended for consumers using Microsoft personal accounts.

Only a small number of people posting in this thread have any true knowledge of the authenticator, so it's not a good place to continue this discussion for anyone truly wanting to solve their problem.

Rob

I was having the same issue when I got a new phone. I kept getting stuck in the loop, so I went into my desktop outlook app. File -> Office Account -> Manage Account. On the web page click on security info (this will require you to verify your identity using you cell phone). Once you are verified you will be able to delete your old device from the authenticator. Now you will be able log in to authenticator on your new device without being stuck in the loop. My understanding is that even though I deleted all data off of and reset my old device, the authenticator app was still sending codes to it.