Locked out of Microsoft tenant due to lost MFA and no alternate admin — how to recover access

shabab shuaib 5 Reputation points
2025-11-03T08:15:54.6+00:00

Hi ,

We recently created a new Microsoft tenant for our organization and assigned several licenses including Office 365, Windows Server, and SQL licenses.

During the initial setup, I configured Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on my mobile device for the only Global Admin account. Unfortunately, the phone was later lost/damaged, and as a result, I no longer have access to the MFA app or recovery options.

Since this was the only Global Admin account in the tenant, we are now completely locked out and unable to access the Microsoft 365 admin portal or manage our subscriptions.

We already contacted our local CSP, who in turn reached out to Microsoft, but they were informed that the client (us) must contact Microsoft directly by phone. We tried this option, but the call only reached the sales department. They attempted to transfer us to the data protection team, but after holding for nearly 4 hours, the call was never connected.

We also submitted multiple support tickets through different accounts — including an alternate professional tenant and personal Microsoft accounts — but it has now been almost a month with no response from Microsoft.

Could someone please advise on the official procedure or contact point to recover tenant access in this situation? We can provide all necessary proof of ownership, billing information, and purchase details to verify the tenant.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For business | Other
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  1. Alina-Le 3,715 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-11-03T10:52:20.86+00:00

    Hello @shabab shuaib

    Welcome to Q&A forum!

    I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve lost access to your only admin account. In this situation, because you are the only global admin of this tenant, there are only two ways that I can provide to get support from the Data Protection Team.

    Since this is a complex issue related to your account and may require assistance from our backend engineering team, please be patient and carefully follow the steps I’ve provided.

    Since this issue has been going on for quite a while and I’m not exactly sure how you've been contacting Microsoft Support, I wanted to share some detailed steps for reaching phone support and trying with a different work account, just to help you double-check whether following up again might be more effective.

    Also, you mentioned that you’ve submitted multiple support tickets using different accounts. If possible, could you please share the ticket IDs? I’d be happy to help check their status and keep you updated.

    Note: As forum moderators don’t have access to user accounts, so we’re unable to assist with things like logging in, resetting passwords, or changing account access.

    1. Contacting Microsoft Data Protection team by phone support

    If you are the only administrator in your organization, then you need to involve Microsoft data protection team. Please try to find the related hotline number to call the frontline let them raise a ticket for you: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support

    (Important Note: Depending on your country or region, 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, this is an automated conversation: First, when you call the hotline, they will ask you what kind of problem you are struggling with.

    Answer: Authenticator.

    A: What products do you use?

    B: Office 365 for business.

    Verification: Education or company account?

    B: For companies

    A: Are you an administrator?

    B: Yes.

    A: Are there any other administrators in your organization?

    B: No.

    A: I need one.... Service request?

    B: Yes  

    If your organization's Office 365 Business subscription is from a partner or reseller, and the global administrator is unable to open a service request on your end, contact the reseller's support provider to help open a service request on behalf of you instead.

    Please try 2 or 3 times until you can reach out to an agent.

    2. Another work around

    If you still cannot reach to agent, there is still a workaround, you might consider registering for a new tenant by signing up for a trial subscription. This would allow you to create a new tenant following the prompts provided. Once set up, you can access the admin console of the new tenant and submit a support ticket requesting to speak with the Data Protection team on behalf of your previous tenant.   

    For detailed guidance, to set up a new tenant, please follow these steps:    

    User's image User's image

    Once your tenant is created, you should be able to access the support portal and submit your ticket without further issues 

    Ticket Support: In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center->Support->Help & Support. You can raise support ticket In Microsoft Admin Center by this link:

    https://admin.microsoft.com/#/support/requests   

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    *Please remember to cancel the trial subscription once your issue is resolved to avoid any unintended charges.   

    Finally, if you’ve already submitted a ticket, please share the ticket ID with us so we can check its status and keep you updated.

    I highly appreciate your valuable time and your cooperation during this process

    Hopefully, you can resolve this issue soon!

    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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