A Microsoft app for iOS and Android devices that enables authentication with two-factor verification, phone sign-in, and code generation
The backup for Microsoft Authenticator is tied to a specific personal Microsoft account. If the app says “your backup is not stored with this account” and suggests trying a different personal account, it means the backup was created under another Microsoft account, and it cannot be restored with the one currently signed in.
Only what was backed up to the correct recovery account can be restored. If there is no way to sign in with the original backup account (or there is no other account), the stored backup cannot be recovered and the accounts must be added to Authenticator again manually.
To avoid this in the future on Android, ensure backup is correctly configured:
- Open Microsoft Authenticator.
- Go to Settings.
- Turn on Cloud Backup.
- Select the correct Microsoft personal account where the backup will be stored and tap OK.
If unable to restore because the backup account itself cannot be accessed, support cannot recover the Authenticator backup. In that case, recover access to the Microsoft backup account first using the Microsoft account sign-in helper, then try restore again, or re-add each account following the provider’s instructions.
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