Then you are signed in on the PC (or whatever other device).Īlternatively, you can now sign-in to these websites (and apps) using your phone now. On that phone, a pop-up appears and you press the Approve button. And then you are prompted to approve this sign-in using Microsoft Authenticator on your phone. Assuming you aren’t saving this information in the browser, you then type in your account name (email address), press Enter, and then enter your password. You’re on your PC or whatever device browsing the web, and you come across a Microsoft website like or. I’ll use the web as an example, but this would work with apps too. If you’re confused by what I mean, consider how signing in with your Microsoft account using 2FA and Microsoft Authenticator has worked until now. So it may be a toss-up, with the understanding that not remembering passwords probably puts this over the top. It’s easier in that you don’t need to type your password in to get the authentication prompt. This new phone sign-in feature is a slight variation on the pop-up approval method. This app works a lot like other authenticator apps, but if you use it with a Microsoft account, you get additional niceties, like the ability to approve sign-ins by tapping a pop-up on the phone instead of looking at and then typing in a code. Microsoft Authenticator is the mobile app that I use and recommend for implementing 2FA with your Microsoft account (and other accounts that support this security technology). So please review Tip: Secure Your Microsoft Account with Two-Step Verification and First Steps: The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Microsoft Account for more information. I will assume you are up on why you should be securing your Microsoft account with two-step verification-Microsoft’s name for two-factor authentication, or 2FA, sort of-but if not, you’re in luck: I’ve been writing about this a lot lately. But it looks like the Android version got this new feature a week ago. I just noticed this today as the iOS version of the app was just updated. Microsoft Authenticator has been updated on both Android and iPhone in recent days with an interesting new feature called phone sign-in.

Authenticator app for windows 10