Global admin is locked out

Nishtha Nagpal 60 Reputation points
2026-01-08T19:04:37.2466667+00:00

This is a tenant-level admin lockout. All Global Administrators require MFA, but the registered Authenticator devices are unavailable. There are no admins who can sign in. We need a Global Admin MFA reset or a Temporary Access Pass. The administrator is ill and unreachable, and the global admin has lost their old device, which had the authenticator app set up.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For business | Other
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AI answer

2026-01-08T19:04:44.71+00:00

In the scenario where all Global Administrators are locked out and unable to access the tenant due to MFA requirements and unavailable authentication devices, it is crucial to have emergency access accounts in place. Microsoft recommends creating at least two emergency access accounts that are excluded from Conditional Access policies. These accounts should be used only in emergencies to prevent being locked out of administrative access.

If you find yourself locked out, here are some steps you can take:

  1. Use Emergency Access Accounts: If you have set up emergency access accounts, use them to regain access to the tenant. These accounts should be configured with distinct credentials and MFA methods.
  2. Contact Support: If no emergency access accounts are available, you may need to contact Microsoft Support for assistance with resetting the Global Admin's MFA or obtaining a Temporary Access Pass. They can provide guidance on the next steps to regain access.
  3. Recovery Planning: For future prevention, ensure that your organization has documented recovery procedures and that all administrators are aware of how to access emergency accounts in case of similar situations.

It's essential to plan for such scenarios to avoid complete lockouts in the future.

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  1. Ryan-N 16,005 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-08T19:36:08.96+00:00

    Hi @Nishtha Nagpal,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Thank you for reaching out to us. I would like to provide you with the following information:

    I noticed that you contacted Microsoft’s hotline but it wasn’t effective. I’d like to suggest an alternative solution as follows:

    You can create a trial tenant. Through that trial tenant, you can submit a ticket to the Data Protection Team to request MFA reset for your Global Admin account. After creating the ticket, you can stop the automatic renewal for this trial subscription.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing?msockid=0b383d9b8468649f297528d9851765ce

    User's image

    Once the system receives the ticket and automatically assigns it to an agent, that agent will proactively contact you and assist with resetting MFA for your account.

    How to create a ticket:

    • Step 1: Go to https://admin.microsoft.com using the trial account.
    • Step 2: Click on Help and Support.
    • Step 3: Enter the title: Need to contact the Data Protection Team.
    • Step 4: Click on Contact Support.
    • Step 5: Choose the contact method (I recommend selecting email).

    You can refer to the following link:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support?view=o365-worldwide

    After creating the ticket, follow these steps to stop automatic renewal:

    • Step 1: Click on Billing > Your Products.
    • Step 2: Click on your subscription plan.
    • Step 3: Click on Edit Recurring Billing > select Off.

     

    Note: We appreciate your understanding regarding the scope of support available through this forum. As moderators, our role is to provide general guidance and assist with common troubleshooting steps. While we do not have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend-related issues, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

     

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow the steps above and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to find another solution.

    Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please share them in the comments section of this post so I can continue to support you.

    I look forward to continuing our discussion with you

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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