Microsoft 365 Admins Locked Out of Their Tenants: Causes, Remedies, and Prevention Tips

Lately, there have been reports of Microsoft 365 Admins being locked out of their tenants, causing significant disruptions to their operations. We have observed this from enquiries coming in from both partners and customers through partners which indicates that there needs to be a discussion around this to reduce the distress. In this blog, we will explore the causes of this issue, remedies to resolve it, and tips on how to avoid it.

Microsoft recommends that you may have between 2 to 5 Global Administrator accounts for your tenant but certainly no more than 5 as that increases risk. One of those five accounts should be used for recovery purposes only and only known to two Global Admins, maybe a third.

Causes of Microsoft 365 Admins Being Locked Out of Their Tenants

1. Security Breaches: One of the most common causes of Microsoft 365 Admins being locked out of their tenants is a security breach. Hackers may gain unauthorised access to a tenant's administrative account, change the password, and lock out the legitimate admin.

2. Licensing Issues: Another possible cause of a Microsoft 365 Admin being locked out is licensing issues. If a tenant's licensing subscription expires, the tenant's admin account may be disabled, preventing access to the tenant.

3. MFA Configuration Errors: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to user accounts. However, if the MFA configuration is not set up correctly, it may prevent Microsoft 365 Admins from accessing their tenant.

Remedies to Resolving Microsoft 365 Admins Being Locked Out of Their Tenants

1. Contact Microsoft Support through your Partner Relations Officer (PRO): If a Microsoft 365 Admin is locked out of their tenant, they should contact their PRO to assist them in reaching out to Microsoft support immediately. Microsoft support will guide them through the process of verifying their identity and restoring access to their tenant.

2. Verify Security Settings: Microsoft 365 Admins should review their security settings regularly to ensure that they are up-to-date and effective. This can help prevent security breaches and unauthorized access to the tenant.

3. Ensure Licensing is Current: Microsoft 365 Admins should ensure that their tenant's licensing subscription is up to date. This can prevent their admin account from being disabled due to licensing issues.

Tips on How to Avoid Microsoft 365 Admins Being Locked Out of Their Tenants

1. Use Strong Passwords: Microsoft 365 Admins should use strong passwords that are difficult to guess or hack. They should also use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security to their accounts.

2. Monitor Tenant Activity: Microsoft 365 Admins should monitor their tenant's activity regularly to identify any suspicious activity or unauthorized access.

3. Educate Users: Microsoft 365 Admins should educate their users on security best practices, such as not sharing passwords, avoiding suspicious links or emails, and reporting any suspicious activity to the admin.

In the case where there is another Global Administrator in your organization, you can ask them to disable MFA for you.  Set up multifactor authentication for users - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn

If there is no other Admin available in your organization, in order to better help you and not waste more of your time, please call Microsoft’s data protection team directly via Find Microsoft 365 for business support phone numbers by country or region - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn they will help you to gain access to your account and to unblock external domain for your tenant.

Microsoft 365 Admins being locked out of their tenants can be a frustrating and disruptive experience. However, by understanding the causes of this issue, taking remedial actions to restore access, and following prevention tips, Microsoft 365 Admins can avoid this issue and ensure that their tenants are secure and accessible. Should you find yourself in this position, reach out to our Partner Relations Officers and Microsoft SureStep Ambassadors for Modern Work at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to assist you in connecting with Microsoft’s Data Protection Team who will ensure that your organisations data is secure and will remain private.

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