Industry observers note that windows Current now reports that SMS verification will be phased out shortly. For a while now, it’s been possible to authenticate your Microsoft account logins by receiving a six-digit code via text message.
According to the latest update, this doesn’t come as a surprise, though, given that Microsoft started forcing passkeys for fresh Microsoft accounts a year ago. It looks like Microsoft wants users who still rely on SMS verification to switch over to passkeys instead going forward.
Industry observers note that both keys are needed for a successful login. Unlike a password, which is just a single set of characters that can be stolen or guessed by hackers, a passkey is actually a pair of two unique keys: one key stored on your device and guarded by biometrics (i.e., facial recognition, fingerprints, or PIN codes), the other key held by the website, app, or service for which you’ve created a user account.
The report highlights that we’ve previously explained why SMS authentication codes aren’t secure—Microsoft outright says “SMS-based authentication is now a leading source of fraud”—and how to set up passkeys for Microsoft accounts. Switching to passkeys is the smartest move you can make for digital security, especially if you’re still using SMS codes.
Industry observers note that unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t given a concrete timeline for the phasing out of SMS authentication other than “soon.” As such, you’ll want to make this a priority and switch as soon as you can.
The report highlights that as of this writing, there’s no clear answer. Microsoft seems keen on enforcing passkeys and we can only wait and see how it resolves logins for no-passkey cases. What if you can’t use passkeys, such as when you’re trying to log into Windows on a virtual machine?
Industry observers note that now I’m a believer. Further reading: I was a passkey skeptic.
As part of the ongoing story, this article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.
The report highlights that he has previously worked with Macworld, but today mainly writes for our sister sites PC för Alla and M3. Mikael has a firm grasp on which gadgets are dropped, and what is happening with the streaming services and the most recent AI tools. Mikael writes news across all our consumer tech categories.