Microsoft accounts can now go passwordless — here’s how to login without a password

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Microsoft accounts can now go passwordless — here’s how to login without a password
You no longer need a password for your Microsoft account.Unsplash
  • You can now login to your Microsoft account without a password.
  • It will instead ask for verification through the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello and more.
  • This feature will start rolling out in the coming weeks.
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Microsoft is leading the way for a passwordless future. You no longer require passwords to login to your Microsoft account as you can now use the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key or a verification code sent via SMS or email.

Microsoft’s new passwordless feature will be rolled out over the coming weeks, and it can be used to sign in to Microsoft apps and services such as Outlook, OneDrive, and more. It’s like 2-step verification but without the password. The company has been preparing for a passwordless future for quite some time and its reason behind is the fact that passwords can be easily manipulated.

“We are expected to create complex and unique passwords, remember them, and change them frequently, but nobody likes doing that either,” said Vasu Jakkal, Corporate VP of Microsoft’s Security, Compliance and Identity. “Weak passwords are the entry point for the majority of attacks across enterprise and consumer accounts. There are a whopping 579 password attacks every second—that’s 18 billion every year,” Jakkal added.

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How do you go passwordless



First install the Microsoft Authenticator app and link it to your Microsoft account.

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Open your Microsoft account and choose ‘Advanced Security Options’.

Under ‘Additional Security Options’ turn on ‘Passwordless Account’.

Then follow the on-screen prompts and approve the notification from the Authenticator app.

Your Microsoft account is now passwordless. You can always go back to using a password for your account. This seems interesting and can be helpful for people who need to remember multiple passwords. Microsoft has been working on this new security feature for quite some time. Back in 2018 it enabled security keys for Microsoft accounts, and it also made Windows 10 sign in passwordless in 2019.

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