Backup your Authenticator App
- Please backup the data on your Authenticator app. This will allow you to move the information to a new phone.
- Before you can back up your credentials, you must have:
- A personal Microsoft account (opens in a new tab) to act as your recovery account.
- For iOS only, you must have an iCloud account (opens in a new tab) for the actual storage location.
To turn on cloud backup for iOS devices
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On your iOS device, select Settings, select Backup, and then turn on iCloud backup.
Your account credentials are backed up to your iCloud account.
To turn on cloud backup for Android devices
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On your Android device, select Settings, select Backup, and then turn on Cloud backup.
Your account credentials are backed up to your cloud account.
Recover your account credentials on your new device
You can recover your account credentials from your cloud account, but you must first make sure that the account you're recovering doesn't exist in the Microsoft Authenticator app. For example, if you're recovering your personal Microsoft account, you must make sure you don't have a personal Microsoft account already set up in the Authenticator app. This check is important so we can be sure we're not overwriting or erasing an existing account by mistake.
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On your mobile device, open the Microsoft Authenticator app, and select Begin recovery from the bottom of the screen.
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Sign in to your recovery account, using the same personal Microsoft account you used during the backup process.
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Your account credentials are recovered to the new device.
After you finish your recovery, you might notice that your personal Microsoft account verification codes in the Microsoft Authenticator app are different between your old and new phones. The codes are different because each device has its unique credential, but both are valid and work while signing in using the associated phone.