Unable to Reuse Authenticator on Same Device After Deletion from Azure Admin – App Shows Account but No Valid Link

Hi all,

We have encountered a frustrating issue with Microsoft Authenticator and Azure AD. A user was planning to switch phones, so we removed their Microsoft Authenticator registration from the Azure portal (via the Admin Center). However, the user has now decided to continue using the same phone.

Here’s the problem:

The Authenticator app still shows the account on the phone (probably from before it was deleted).

Since the registration was deleted from Azure, the account link is now broken or invalid.

When the user tries to re-register MFA, Azure blocks the process saying the account already exists or is already registered.

However, the Authenticator app doesn't allow deleting or re-registering the account manually.

The result is a deadlock: Azure won’t allow re-registration because it thinks it’s still linked, and the app can’t reset it either because the link is invalid.

This feels like a bug with no clear resolution path.

Has anyone run into this? Any suggestions on how to force a full reset or clear this stale entry?

Thanks in advance.