If your staff sign in to Microsoft 365 with a code sent by text message or phone call, that is about to change. Starting February 1, 2027, Microsoft will no longer send those codes. Anyone who relies only on text or voice codes will be stopped at sign-in and required to set up a passkey before they can get back to work, and there is no opt-out. A few months of planning now beats a Monday-morning lockout.
What's changing
Microsoft has already started steering people toward passkeys. Since September, users who sign in with text or voice codes have been seeing prompts to set one up, which they can skip for now. On February 1, 2027, text and voice codes from Microsoft end for most users. Global administrators and outside users, such as vendors you have invited into your Microsoft 365, get until July 1, 2027.
What a passkey is
A passkey lets you sign in with your fingerprint, your face, or your device PIN, or with a small physical security key. There is no code to type, and it is much harder for a phishing email to trick someone out of it. Passkeys can live on a phone or computer you already own, through the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager, so for most people there is nothing to buy.
What happens if you do nothing
Staff who only use text codes will be stopped at sign-in and made to set up a passkey on the spot. Some will do it without trouble. Others will be on a new phone, away from their desk, or simply unsure what the screen is asking, and that turns into help-desk calls and lost time.
Your options
- Move everyone to passkeys. This is Microsoft's recommendation, and the right choice for almost every business.
- Keep text codes through an outside provider. If you truly need text or voice codes, Microsoft will let you set up a third-party phone provider through its Security Store starting October 30, 2026. That means another vendor and another contract to manage.
A simple plan
- Find out who still signs in with text or voice codes.
- Turn on passkeys for your organization.
- Have staff register a passkey before the deadline, ideally on a day when help is close by.
- Send a short how-to so nobody is surprised.
How we can help
We can find out which of your users still rely on text codes, set up passkeys, and walk your team through the switch well before February. Contact us or call (480) 382-3289 to get started.
Source: Passkeys by default and retirement of Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication (Microsoft Learn)