MFA Setup - New Phone

Did you get a new smartphone?  If you use Microsoft Authenticator for Multifactor Authentication, it’s very easy to be locked out of your district account if your new phone does not have the Microsoft Authenticator app set up.  What’s worse, when you do set it up on your new phone, you’ll find that you’ll need your old phone to approve the MFA request! Here's what you can do to make it easier.

Warning: To avoid being locked out of your district account, please follow these steps before you get rid of your old phone.

On Old Phone: Add a Backup Phone Number

Before you activate a new smartphone, we strongly recommend adding your mobile phone number as an additional authentication method (even if it’s just temporary).  When it comes time to set up Microsoft Authenticator on your new phone, and if you don’t have access to your old phone, you can opt to receive the text message when prompted to verify your sign-in.

1. Go to https://mysignins.microsoft.com/security-info.
2. Click + Add sign-in method.
3. Select Phone from the dropdown and click Add.
4. Enter your mobile number, select "Text me a code" and click Next.
5. Enter the 6-digit code sent to your phone and click Done.

On New Phone: Set Up Microsoft Authenticator

 

When your new phone is activated, download the Microsoft Authenticator app.  There are other apps called Authenticator so be sure you’re getting the Microsoft Authenticator app.  Here’s how to set up Microsoft Authenticator as an authentication method on your new phone.

 

Tip: When setting this up, have your computer ready. You will need to scan a QR code from the computer screen using your phone.

1. On your computer, return to https://mysignins.microsoft.com/security-info.
2. If prompted for MFA and you don't have your old phone, click "I can't use my app right now" and choose the Text option.
3. Click + Add sign-in method → Authenticator app.
4. Open the app on your phone, tap + or Add Account, and select Work or school account.
5. Select Scan a QR code and point your phone at your computer screen.
6. Follow the prompts to test the notification. Once verified, Delete your old phone from the list on your computer. Find the Microsoft Authenticator item with your old phone’s name.  To the right, click on Delete and confirm as necessary.

Alternative Method: Cloud Backup

You can toggle Cloud Backup in the Authenticator settings using a personal Microsoft account. Note: This is highly reliable on Android but has mixed results on iOS.

1. Open the Microsoft Authenticator app.
2. Tap on the menu button (three dots or lines) and select Settings
3. Toggle the Cloud Backup option to turn it on.
4. Add a recovery account if it doesn’t already prompt you to.  This must be a personal Microsoft account (not your district account).
5. On your new phone, download and install the Microsoft Authenticator app.
6. Instead of adding a new account or scanning a QR code, tap the option to ‘Restore from backup.’
7. Use your personal Microsoft account that you used for the backup.
8. Your backed up accounts will show up in Microsoft Authenticator, but may require additional steps to make each one functional.