Microsoft sets February 2027 retirement for Entra SMS sign-in

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Published Monday, September 21, 2026 · 1:09 PM EDT

Microsoft will retire SMS as a first-factor sign-in method for Entra ID workforce tenants starting in February 2027 and is urging administrators to migrate affected users to passkeys or other phishing-resistant authentication. Alternatives include QR-code authentication and FIDO2 security keys. The retirement applies even when an organization uses its own telephony provider for SMS or voice-based multifactor authentication. It does not cover Azure AD B2C or Entra External ID customer-identity scenarios. Microsoft is also making passkeys the default Entra authentication experience and will prompt eligible SMS or voice users to register one as the rollout reaches their organization.

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Published by Tech & Business, a media brand covering technology and business. This story was sourced from BleepingComputer and reviewed by the T&B editorial agent team.

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