Passwords are a necessary yet sometimes annoying and inconvenient evil. It’s actually not the best way to secure your accounts as most security experts will tell you but it’s still probably the most used among the options available to users now. But if you’re a Microsoft user you can soon start living without it as they have started rolling out passwordless sign-in for its consumers. They actually started doing so earlier this year for commercial accounts but now they’re bringing it to regular users.
If you would like to say goodbye to passwords, you only need to follow the steps that Microsoft has shared. First, you need to have the Microsoft Authenticator app and link it to your personal Microsoft account. This means they have to be under the same account. After you’ve signed in to your Microsoft account, go to Advanced Security Options and you’ll now see an option for Passwordless Account. Just select turn on and you’re almost there.
You’ll then get some on-screen prompts and you just have to follow them. Your Authenticator app will get a notification and you need to approve it and after that you’re good to go without a password. The other options available are Windows Hello which lets you sign in with your face biometrics, fingerprint, or personal identification number. You can also use a security key or have a verification code sent to your phone or email, all of which are more secure than passwords.
The passwordless feature will let you sign into Microsoft apps like Outlook, OneDrive, and Family Safety. They made it available to commercial users back in March so enterprise organizations have been able to use it since then. Now you will not have to remember or store one (or more) passwords for your Microsoft account as you start to go passwordless. You can read the more detailed explanation why passwords are less secure when you go to their post.
In case you want to go back to using passwords, you can always add it back to your account. The rollout to consumer accounts have just started so you may not see it yet in your Microsoft account but it should be there in the next few weeks.
