Need to speak to someone regarding our Admin access/role

Hi Marcianne,

I understand this may be an urgent situation. Depending on the nature of the issue, the resolution may vary.

If you're trying to identify which account has administrator rights, you can try signing in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center with each account. An account with the appropriate admin role should be able to access the portal successfully. If the account does not have administrative permissions, you may see a message similar to the screenshot below:

Should the issue is password-related and another administrator account is still accessible, that administrator may be able to reset the password for the affected account from Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Users > Active users > select the account > Reset password.

In case the issue involves MFA and another administrator account remains accessible, that administrator may be able to reset the MFA methods for the affected user by following Microsoft's guidance here: Manage user authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication.

However, if the affected account is the only administrator account in the tenant and access cannot be regained through the available recovery options, you will likely need to work directly with Microsoft Support.

You can find Microsoft's support numbers here: Contact Microsoft customer support | Microsoft Support (Work account)

(When you call the support number, you may hear an introduction of about 30 seconds such as "you can visit the link...". You can ignore this introduction and wait until you are presented with the options. Then press "1" as a business email user, and again "1" for technical help.)     

In some countries, an automated voice system is used. Example of a dialogue:

IVR: What problem is bothering you?

Client: Lost access to the only admin account

IVR: What product do you use?

Customer: Office 365 for business

IVR: School or Business Account?

Client: Companies

IVR: Are you an administrator?

Client: Yes

IVR: Is there another administrator in your organization?

Client: No. I am the only admin in my tenant

IVR: Do you need to create a support ticket?

Client: Yes. I need to create a ticket. Please send me directly to the Data Protection Teams.

I also recommend calling during business hours. In my experience, it can be difficult to get through to the correct support queue, and automated systems don't always work as expected. If you can't get through on your first try, I suggest trying again later or at a different time.

I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to reply with more details if you need further assistance.

Hello,

Thank you for the response. We had 1 Admin with access who suddenly passed away and cannot get into our two accounts. I have called and waited on hold for over an hour both times to speak to someone regarding our accounts and cannot get through to speak to someone directly. We do not know what to do whatsoever at this point.

Hi Marcianne,

This issue is indeed treated as a tenant ownership or administrator access recovery scenario. In such cases, the correct path is to request assistance from Microsoft. Since you've already tried contacting Microsoft Support by phone without success, a possible workaround is to create a separate Microsoft 365 trial tenant and use it solely to submit a support request.

Here's how you can do it:

1/ Go to Microsoft 365 Business Plans & Pricing | Microsoft 365 (select "Try for free" in an enterprise subscription).

2/ Follow the instructions provided to create a trial tenant.

3/ Once the new tenant is created, go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Help and Support to submit a support ticket, requesting to speak with the Data Protection Team on behalf of your original tenant.

4/ In the ticket description, you'll need to clearly explain that you're trying to regain access to your previous Microsoft 365 tenant as your sole admin is not available and that you need help from the Data Protection team.

Important Notes:

• This new trial tenant will not give you access to any data or settings from your original locked-down tenant. It only serves as a temporary means of contacting Microsoft support.
• Remember to cancel the trial subscription of the new tenant once the issue with the original account is resolved, to avoid unwanted charges. Cancel your Microsoft business subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center | Microsoft Learn.

When reaching out to the Data Protection team, please be prepared to provide any requested information, such as:

• Tenant name/domain
• Affected administrator account
• Microsoft 365 subscription details
• Proof of tenant/domain ownership, if required
• Billing or subscription-related verification information
• Any organizational documents requested by the recovery team

Hopefully these steps help you create a support ticket successfully and move closer to regaining access to your administrator account.