Microsoft Authenticator Lite in Outlook

Originally posted by Microsoft Mar 27, 2023 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Authenticator Lite (in Outlook) is a feature that allows your users to complete multi-factor authentication for their work or school account using Outlook on their iOS or Android device. This feature will be enabled on May 26th for all tenants that have not disabled it. If you do not wish for this feature to be enabled on May 26th, move the state to ‘disabled’ or set user include and exclude groups prior to May 26th.

We always recommend having users download Authenticator to complete their sign-ins, where we can offer the most up-to-date security features. However, users that have not downloaded the app to their device can now approve authentication requests and receive TOTP codes in Outlook, bringing the security of Authenticator to a convenient location.

Admins can enable this feature by leveraging the Authentication Methods policy in Azure Active Directory. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122289

When this will happen:

Rollout of this feature in Outlook will begin in early March, starting public preview. Feature controls are available via MS Graph.

This feature will move to general availability in late April 2023.

On May 26th, this feature will be enabled for all users by default unless admins have taken action to disable or enable it before then. Any settings configured before May 26th will not be changed. 

What you need to do to prepare:}

Starting mid-March, you can choose to enable this preview for your users from Azure Active Directory. We highly recommend that you enable users that are not already using the Microsoft Authenticator app (or another strong authentication method) for this feature at the start of public preview. This feature brings a security enhancement to those users still using telecom transports to authenticate.

This feature will roll out to tenants in the state ‘Microsoft managed’. For the duration of public preview, leaving the feature set to ‘Microsoft managed’ will have no impact on your users and the feature will remain turned off. In April 2023, we will remove preview tags and enter general availability. At GA, ‘Microsoft managed’ will remain set to disabled and there will be no tenant impact. On May 26th 2023, if the feature is still set to ‘Microsoft managed’, your tenant will be eligible to be enabled for this feature by Microsoft, as ‘Microsoft managed’ will be set to enabled. If you do not wish for this feature to be enabled on May 26th, move the state to ‘disabled’ or set users to include and exclude group prior to May 26th. 

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