My microsoft authenticator app is not recognizing my microsoft account email so I can not add an account

Dear @Chris Sloan,

Thank you so much for contacting Microsoft Q&A Forum. 

Based on your description, I understand that you are experiencing issues where the Microsoft Authenticator app does not recognize their Microsoft account email address. Therefore, I have several suggestions that you can try to see if they work: 

1.Use the correct account type setup: 

• Instead of scanning a QR code, open the Authenticator app > choose "+" button > click "Work or school account” (if your account is business user) or "Personal account" (if your account is personal user) > then select “Sign in”. 
• This method is more reliable for Microsoft 365 or organizational/ personal accounts. 

2.Check for typing errors: 

• Ensure there are no extra spaces or typos in the email address. 
• Sometimes copy-pasting can introduce hidden characters 

3.Uninstall and reinstall the Authenticator app. Then retry to sign-in your email address. 

Besides that, if you see any error messages while trying again, you can consult in this link for the troubleshooting: Troubleshoot problems with Microsoft Authenticator - Microsoft Support 

Also, I do not know your account is personal or business (work or school) account. So, I have more suggestions if these methods above do not work: 

1.If personal account: 

• Using Microsoft recovery form: Help with the Microsoft account recovery form - Microsoft Support  
• Reach out to phone number via: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support  
• Use another Microsoft personal account to raise the ticket via: Contact - Microsoft Support  

2.If business account: may I know if you know any other Global Administrators in your organization? 

• If yes, please ask them to follow this article to proceed to reset your 2FA so that you could re-register again: Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn 
• If no, then you are the only Global Administrator and you are completely locked out from the tenant. You might need to contact us via phone service number: Customer service phone numbers - Microsoft Support. The agent will be able to create a ticket for you under the affected tenant and then transfer this ticket to Data Protection team who could help you to regain access. 

Please note that this team is always overwhelmed, so you might need to wait for them to call you, this should take 3-10 working days. I know that this is not a convenient solution to hear but it seems to be the only way, and it's recommended that you should have a secondary/backup Global Administrator to fix this issue on your own. 

I hope this information can help you to solve it soon. 

Wish you a pleasant day!

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