Microsoft Authenticator Backup?

I just had this happen. I've now switched to Authy that does backup in iCloud backups.

https://authy.com/

According to Microsoft, the authentication app specifically does not restore account codes - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/multi-factor-authentication/end-user/micr osoft-authenticator-app-faq

After restoring your device, they say you must add account's back manually.

winter4w wrote:

...

The reason I want to do this is so if my phone dies or gets stolen I can get a new one and restore it so I won't be locked out of my accounts.

Thanks

You shouldn't be locked out. When logging in to a Microsoft account where the code is required, the screen where the code is entered offers the option: "If you can't use an app right now, get a code a different way."

That will allow you to get a code via text or email. You may want to make sure that information is up to date on your Microsoft account.

I would suggest you get something like iCloud Keychain setup, or buy and use mSecure or 1Password or something similar and keep your MS authenticator info there in an encrypted note or whatever. Regardless of backup, it sounds to me like the MS Authenticator app will not restore account's or codes.

Apps and app developers determine what info their app includes in an iTunes or iCloud backup. If MS has coded their app to exclude that critical info on an iOS backup, then you need to secure it yourself.

It sounds to me like you cannot back it up. MS has designed it to not do that. As they say in their FAQ, when restoring a device, you need to delete the accounts and set them up from scratch again. So seems to me all you can do is use another encrypted password/notes app like mSecure (that does backup and restore contents from backup) to store whatever information you'll need to set those accounts up anew in MS authenticator.

It is still not clear to me why you would want or need to back it up. I use Microsoft Authenticator and see absolutely no need to back it up. The only data associated with the app is your Microsoft account information and that wouldn't be restored from a backup anyway -- see the quote below from the link Michael previously provided:

I restored my device from a backup, and my account codes are missing or not working. What happened?

For security purposes, we don't restore accounts from app backups. After you restore the app, delete your accounts and add them again.

If your phone is lost or dies as you suggested in your original post, you simply download the authenticator app to your new phone, do a few setup steps and use the new app. There isn't any data stored in it other than the original authentication with Microsoft (which as stated in the quote above from Microsoft wouldn't be restored anyway) and that can easily be repeated. As I stated earlier however, you do want to insure that you have an alternate email or text number set up on your account with Microsoft.

It's pretty clear that Microsoft designed it so that there is no way to back up the authenticator data. Doing so would be a potential security vulnerability. I don't use MS authenticator, but I do use Google authenticator. When I moved it to a new device I had to re-initialize it.