Is microsoft authenticator free

Microsoft Authenticator is an app available for Android as well as iOS devices that allows you to store apps and sites credentials to make two-factor authentication (2FA) easy and secure using your phone, not complex passwords, and now, the app has a password manager built in (as preview).The password manager built into the Authenticator app connects with your Microsoft account to sync and let you manage your passwords on your phone, and when you set the app as the default autofill provider, it can offer to save and automatically fill credentials as you sign into apps or websites.Since the feature connects with your Microsoft account, the saved passwords will also sync to your desktop computer connected with the same account on Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome with the Microsoft Autofill extension. In this guide, you will learn the steps to start using the Microsoft Authenticator as your default password manager on Android.How to enable and configure password manager on Microsoft AuthenticatorThere are two parts to get started managing passwords with the Microsoft Authenticator app. You have to enable the feature and you need to make the Authenticator the default autofill on Android.Enable password managerTo enable the password manager feature in Authenticator, use these steps:Open Microsoft Authenticator on Android.Click the menu (ellipsis) button from the top-right corner.Select the Settings option.Turn on the Autofill toggle switch.Quick tip: This feature is currently available as a preview, and it is not available to everyone. If you do not see it, you will need to wait a little longer to get it or join the beta program.Click the new Passwords tab at the bottom of the screen.Sign in with a Microsoft account or sync your passwords with an account already in the Microsoft Authenticator app.Microsoft Authenticator enable password managerOnce you complete the steps, you will need to configure the app as the new default autofill provider on your Android device.Change autofill providerTo make the Microsoft Authenticator app your default autofill provider on Android, use these steps:Open Settings.Click on System.Click on Language & input.Click on Advanced.Under the “Tools” section, click the Autofill service option.Android autofill service optionClick the current autofill service.Select the Authenticator app.Microsoft Authenticator default autofill optionClick the OK button to confirm.Once you complete the steps, the app will offer to save passwords, and it will offer to autofill credentials when signing into websites and apps. If you want to test this feature before it becomes available, you will need to join beta program, and then the app will receive an update to access the new feature. If you do not have the app on your Android phone, you can download it from the Google Play Store.We are focusing this guide on Android, but the feature is also available on iPhone. Also, the autofill functionality is only available for the consumer of the app, and it is currently disabled for the enterprise users. Why You Can Trust PureinfotechThe author combines expert insights with user-centric guidance, rigorously researching and testing to ensure you receive trustworthy, easy-to-follow

Hello! With the dust settling from Ignite 2019, let’s dive in with “how stuff works” – focusing on the Microsoft Authenticator’s backup and restore feature.Earlier this year we released the Microsoft Authenticator backup and restore feature on iOS and Android, which lets you easily move your accounts on the Authenticator app to a new device. Some folks have asked how we secure this process – in this blog, we’ll deep dive into how it works.In the descriptions below, a “strong authentication token” means the user has authenticated using multi factor authentication - for example, they used a password and then entered a code sent to their phone or email or signed in with Windows Hello or a FIDO token, depending on the factors they have previously enabled.The Microsoft Authenticator supports a variety of authentication mechanisms to support Microsoft consumer, work and school accounts in different modes, as well as any account which supports the OATH TOTP standard.For accounts using the OATH TOTP standard, there is a shared secret stored both in the Authenticator app and in the identity provider.For accounts using other mechanisms, the Authenticator creates a public/private keypair in a hardware backed storage (e.g. the Keychain on iOS and Keystore on Android) and exports the public key to Microsoft’s login server. The private key never leaves the device when a user is using the backup or restore features of their Authenticator app or when using the operating system app restore features.To restore Microsoft Authenticator accounts on a new device, the user must first back up their current device. Here are the steps.The user starts the backup process by clicking on the menu, going to settings, and enabling backup.The Authenticator app uses a strong authentication token to request a 256-bit key from an internal Microsoft account key service. The app receives this key and a retrieval id (Key ID) from the key service.The Authenticator uses the key to create an encrypted JSON Web Encryption blob (JWE) using AES-256 The information contained varies based on what accounts the Authenticator’s owner has configured.For all accounts, the Authenticator encrypts relevant metadata about the account such as:Backup creation timeAccount systemUsernameCredential types (e.g. Phone Sign-In, TOTP)For OATH TOTP accounts (including personal Microsoft account and third party), the JWE also includes the shared secret used in TOTP.The data above is also hashed with SHA-512 to protect against theft and tampering and this hash is added to the JWE.The JWE and the Key ID are then uploaded to the appropriate cloud storage:For Android devices, they are stored in Microsoft’s cloud storage provider and tied to the user’s personal Microsoft account.For iOS devices, they are stored in iCloud and tied to the user’s Apple account.After the backup has

Passwords can be frustrating, difficult to remember, and easily hacked or stolen. That’s why our vision for Windows is one of a passwordless platform—a world where users don’t have to deal with the pains of a password.With the release of Windows 10, version 1903, we’re bringing Windows 10 closer to delivering our passwordless user and security promises, with new features that we’re excited for you to try out:Adding a passwordless phone number Microsoft account to Windows.Passwordless sign-in to Windows for the first time with the Microsoft Authenticator app.Windows Hello certified as a FIDO2 authenticator for passwordless sign-in on the web.Streamlined Windows Hello PIN recovery above the lock screen.Figure 1. Passwordless Windows Hello sign-in to Windows 10.Adding a passwordless phone number Microsoft account to WindowsA passwordless phone number Microsoft account is exactly what it sounds like—a Microsoft account that can be created with just your phone number in mobile Office apps like Word, OneNote, or Outlook on your iOS or Android device. It unlocks all the benefits of a Microsoft account, and most importantly, it doesn’t require a password.Figure 2. Creating a passwordless phone number Microsoft account for Word Mobile on an iOS device.Now for the first time ever, you can go to Settings and add a passwordless phone number Microsoft account to your device and use the Microsoft Authenticator app, or an SMS code roundtrip, to sign in for the first time—no password needed! This is enabled with an added web sign-in capability on the Windows lock screen. After that, Windows Hello is set up for an end-to-end passwordless experience.Figure 3. Adding a Microsoft account to Windows through the Settings app.Passwordless sign-in to Windows for the first time with the Microsoft Authenticator appIn addition to supporting passwordless phone number Microsoft account sign-in, the web sign-in capability can be used with any Microsoft account—even if it’s just a regular email account. You can try it out by adding a Microsoft account to Windows, signing in for the first time with the Microsoft Authenticator app (make sure it’s already set up for your Microsoft account), and setting up Windows Hello face, fingerprint, or PIN for later sign-ins—all without a password!Figure 4. First time Microsoft account sign-in to Windows with the Microsoft Authenticator app.Windows Hello certified as a FIDO2 authenticator for passwordless sign-in on the webIn November 2018, we announced the ability to use Windows Hello and FIDO2 compliant Microsoft-compatible security keys for

8, 2023: Number matching is now deployed and enabled for all users of the Microsoft Authenticator app!Additionally, due a change in the Microsoft Authenticator Authentication method policy, the feature configuration of Application Context and Location Context in tenants may have been impacted. End users were not impacted by this change, but if you made an update to these settings before 5/17 to set them to "disabled", please review your policy. If the policy has been reset to "default" and you'd like to explicitly set the state to be "disabled", you can leverage the UX or MS Graph API to do so. Note: Tenants who have the policy set to "enabled" were not affected by the change.Microsoft Authenticator app’s number matching feature has been Generally Available since Nov 2022! If you have not already leveraged the rollout controls (via Azure Portal Admin UX and MSGraph APIs) to smoothly deploy number matching for users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications, we highly encourage you to do so. We had previously announced that we will remove the admin controls and enforce the number match experience tenant-wide for all users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications starting February 27, 2023. After listening to customers, we will extend the availability of the rollout controls for a few more weeks. Organizations can continue to use the existing rollout controls until May 8, 2023, to deploy number matching in their organizations. Microsoft services will start enforcing the number matching experience for all users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications after May 8th, 2023. We will also remove the rollout controls for number matching after that date. Please note that we have changed the expected behavior for NPS extension to be even more admin friendly. NPS versions 1.2.2216.1+ will be released once Microsoft starts to enable number matching for all Authenticator users. These NPS versions will automatically prefer OTP based sign-ins over traditional push notifications with the Authenticator app. An admin can choose to disable this behavior and fallback to traditional push notifications with Approve/Deny by setting the registry key OVERRIDE_NUMBER_MATCHING_WITH_OTP Value = FALSE. Previous NPS extension versions will not automatically

Switch Authenticator push notification authentications to OTP based authentications. Please refer to the NPS extension section of the number match documentation for further information.When this will happen:Beginning in May 2023.How this affects your organization:To prevent accidental approvals, admins can require users to enter a number displayed on the sign-in screen when approving an MFA request in the Microsoft Authenticator app. This feature is critical to protecting against MFA fatigue attacks which are on the rise.Another way to reduce accidental approvals is to show users additional context in Authenticator notifications. Admins can now selectively choose to enable the following:Application context: Show users which application they are signing into.Geographic location context: Show users their sign-in location based on the IP address of the device they are signing into.Number match behavior in different scenarios after May 2023:Authentication flows will require users to do number match when using the Microsoft Authenticator app. If the user is using a version of the Authenticator app that doesn’t support number match, their authentication will fail. Please make sure upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Authenticator (App Store and Google Play Store) to use it for sign-in.Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) and combined registration flows will also require number match when users are using the Microsoft Authenticator app.ADFS adapter will require number matching on versions of Windows Server that support number matching. On earlier versions, users will continue to see the “Approve/Deny” experience and won’t see number matching till you upgrade.Windows Server 2022 October 26, 2021—KB5006745 (OS Build 20348.320)Windows Server 2019 October 19, 2021—KB5006744 (OS Build 17763.2268)Windows Server 2016 October 12, 2021—KB5006669 (OS Build 14393.4704)NPS extension versions beginning 1.2.2131.2 will require users to do number matching after May 2023. Because the NPS extension can’t show a number, the user will be asked to enter a One-Time Passcode (OTP). The user must have an OTP authentication method (e.g. Microsoft Authenticator app, software tokens etc.) registered to see this behavior. If the user doesn’t have an OTP method registered, they’ll continue to get the Approve/Deny experience. You can create a registry key that overrides this behavior and prompts users

Migrating Microsoft Authenticator on a New Phone or DeviceHave you ever gotten a new phone only to remember that you have to transfer your Microsoft Authenticator information to the new device? It turns out that this is a somewhat complex, poorly documented process.The steps outlined in this blog will work with regular and external accounts in Azure Active Directory where you are a guest.Stop!First, ensure you do not give up/wipe/destroy your old device before setting up your new one. Keeping your old device as is makes the process much easier. If you don’t have your device, don’t despair. If you set up another method for signing in, like a phone number or another email, that can work to get this set up on your new device. It is critical to set up multiple options. However, if you don’t have this, you can reach out to an organization administrator to get access to your account. This is why it is crucial to have more than one administrator; if one loses access, the other can fix the issue.Migrating Accounts in Microsoft AuthenticatorMigrate the accounts in authenticator to the new phone.Start Microsoft Authenticator, press on the menu icon, and choose Settings.For iOS, make sure that iCloud backup is checked. Note the recovery account and make sure you have access to that account. This backs up the authenticator accounts to iCloud. There is a similar process for Android.Make sure the authenticator is installed on the new device.On the new device in the startup, it