When you make a new Microsoft account next time, you’ll notice there’s no choice to establish a conventional password. Yes, Microsoft is phasing out standard passwords and automatically opting for passkeys, particularly with newly created accounts. This is quite innovative, yet I fully support this decision.
Microsoft Will Go Password-Free by Default
Microsoft has ultimately opted to eliminate passwords entirely in favor of using passkeys. The company shared this news through an officialannouncement.
blog post
—quite appropriately on World Password Day (observed on May 1). Therefore, what does this actually mean for you?
When you set up a new account with Microsoft (whether it’s for Xbox or another one of their brands), you won’t need to devise an intricate mix of numbers and letters as your password. Rather, you will just have to
configure a passkey for your Microsoft account
It’s much more secure since passkeys cannot be stolen or intercepted, plus there’s no need to remember them.
When I tried setting up a Microsoft account while drafting this narrative, I was still prompted to establish a password. Although this password-free approach isn’t the default just yet, it seems poised to become commonplace shortly.
If you’re already a Microsoft user, you aren’t required to immediately get rid of your password. Nonetheless, this could be a suitable moment to
switch to passkeys
And you can start moving towards a password-free future by removing your passwords.
Achieve this by going to
your Microsoft account settings
, clicking
Security
on the left side, and then
Control my sign-in method
Scroll down beneath the list of login options and select
Turn on
under
Passwordless account
.
Microsoft Has Optimized Sign-Ins
As part of this update, Microsoft is streamlining its login procedure. The company elaborates in its blog post:
Rather than presenting you with every potential way to log in, we automatically identify the most suitable option based on your account details and make that the standard choice. Say you’ve got both a password and “one-time codes” configured; when signing in, we’ll ask you to use the one-time code rather than entering your password. Once logged in, you will then be asked to register a passkey.
While Microsoft isn’t yet urging current users to make the transition to passkeys, it most definitely signals a move in that direction.
I’m eager to make this change personally. What attracts me isn’t only the enhanced security but also the remarkable ease of not wrestling with complicated passwords that seem as though a cat jumped onto my keyboard.
Moreover, Microsoft has observed a 98% success rate with passkey logins as opposed to just a 32% success rate for conventional password logins, reinforcing the argument even further. Efficiency is something I greatly appreciate, and if passkeys can reduce my login times and minimize frustrations, I’m completely open to leaving passwords behind.