The new phone is set up, everything else came across, and now Microsoft is asking for a code that only exists on the old phone. This one catches everyone. The Authenticator app often does not survive a phone-to-phone transfer, and even when the app is there, the work account inside it frequently is not. Nothing is broken and nothing is lost.

Try this first: if you still have the old phone

If the old phone still turns on, even without a SIM card, this is the easy path. Put it on wi-fi, use it to approve one sign-in on your computer, and then go straight to aka.ms/mfasetup and add the new phone as a sign-in method while you are signed in. Then remove the old phone from the list. Five minutes and you are done.

If the old phone is gone, but you registered a second method

This only works if you previously added a mobile number or a second method. If you did, you can sort this out yourself right now.

1. Sign in as normal with your work email address and password.
2. When it asks for the Authenticator app, click the small link that says I can’t use my Microsoft Authenticator app right now or Sign in another way.
3. Choose the text message option and enter the code that arrives on your number. If your number has not changed, this works even though the phone has.
4. Once you are signed in, go to aka.ms/mfasetup.
5. Install Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone from the App Store or Google Play, then choose Add sign-in method, pick Authenticator app, and scan the code with the new phone.
6. Delete the old Authenticator entry from the list so it cannot cause confusion later.

If you did not set up a second method

Then you need us, and that is fine - it is one of the most common tickets we get, particularly in the weeks after a new phone comes out. Log a ticket or ring 03 9028 4358.

Before we reset it, we will check that you are you. That is usually a call back on a number we already hold for you, or a quick confirmation from your manager or a director. We do this every time, for everyone, without exception.

It is worth knowing why, because it is the same check working in your favour. If someone can ring an IT company, say they have a new phone, and get the second factor reset, then the second factor protects nothing at all. Business email compromise very often starts with exactly that phone call. The two minutes we spend confirming it is really you is the thing standing between an attacker and your mailbox.

Once verified, we clear the old method and send you a link to register the new phone. Registering the new phone then takes you a couple of minutes.

How to make the next phone painless

• Register two methods. The Authenticator app and a mobile number. Check what you have at aka.ms/mfasetup - it takes thirty seconds and it is the whole difference between self-service and waiting.
• Turn on backup in the Authenticator app before you upgrade. In the app, open Settings and switch on cloud backup or iCloud backup. Then use Restore from backup on the new phone during setup.
• Set the new phone up before you wipe the old one. Move the Authenticator across first, then everything else.
• Tell us when your mobile number changes. An old number sitting in your account is a dead end at the worst possible moment.

Related

• Setting up multi-factor authentication
• Setting up work email on a new phone
• A phone with work email on it is lost or stolen
• Before you sell, trade in or bin an old phone or computer

Still stuck?

Log a ticket at portal.yougrowit.com.au or email support@yougrowit.com.au. If it is stopping you working right now, call 03 9028 4358.

Support hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm Melbourne time, excluding Victorian public holidays.

Not a client yet?

This help centre is free to read and we would rather you fixed it yourself. If it has not worked, or you would rather someone just dealt with it:

The first call is free. Tell us what’s happening and we’ll tell you what we think it is, what fixing it involves, and what it’ll cost — before anything is charged. If it turns out to be a five-minute thing, we’ll usually just sort it out on the call.

Call 03 9028 4358 or email admin@yougrowit.com.au. Melbourne small businesses, Monday to Friday 8:30am–5:30pm. We don’t do home computers.