Microsoft is making an important change to authentication in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication are being retired, while passkeys are becoming the default authentication experience.
The goal is to move organizations away from authentication methods that are more vulnerable to phishing and toward stronger, phishing-resistant alternatives.
Key Dates 📅
September 1, 2026 – Users enabled for SMS or voice authentication are automatically enabled for passkeys. When signing in and completing MFA, affected users can be prompted to register a passkey.
February 1, 2027 – Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication will be retired for most users. Organizations should migrate affected users to phishing-resistant authentication before this date to avoid sign-in disruption.
July 1, 2027 – Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication will also be retired for Global Administrators and external users. Internal guest users remain part of the February 1 timeline.
What Should Organizations Do? 🔐
Organizations using Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID should already start identifying users who still rely on SMS or voice authentication and plan their migration.
Microsoft recommends moving users toward phishing-resistant authentication, primarily:
- Passkeys
- Windows Hello for Business
- FIDO2 security keys
Passkeys use cryptographic keys instead of shared secrets and are designed to protect against phishing, SIM-swap and replay attacks.
Organizations that have a specific business, regulatory or technical need to continue using SMS or voice will be able to use supported telephony providers through Microsoft Security Store instead of Microsoft’s native delivery.
Prepare Your Microsoft 365 Environment 🚀
The retirement of SMS and voice MFA is another step toward stronger, phishing-resistant authentication across Microsoft Entra ID. If your organization still relies on these methods, now is the time to review your authentication setup and prepare affected users for the transition.
At Nodefusion, we help organizations configure and secure their Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra environments and prepare for changes across the Microsoft ecosystem. Contact us to make sure your Microsoft 365 environment is ready for the upcoming authentication changes.
