The retirement begins on February 1, 2027, for workforce accounts. Microsoft urges administrators to switch users to supported sign-in methods or arrange another telecom provider to keep phone-based authentication.
Microsoft has renewed its warning that retirement of Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication for Entra ID, its workplace identity service, begins on February 1, 2027. Administrators must move affected users to another supported method or arrange a separate telecom provider to avoid interruptions to sign-in.
Microsoft issued the reminder on October 27, BleepingComputer reported. The change applies only to workforce tenants—the environments organizations use for employee accounts. It does not apply to Azure AD B2C or Microsoft Entra External ID customer identity scenarios.
The reminder follows Microsoft’s July announcement of a rollout scheduled to begin in September that would make passkeys the default Entra ID authentication experience. Microsoft said that, as the rollout reaches each organization, users enabled for SMS or voice would also be enabled for passkeys and prompted to register one at their next multifactor authentication—a sign-in check requiring more than one form of verification.
Supported alternatives include passkeys, a passwordless sign-in method; QR code authentication, which uses scannable codes; and FIDO2 security keys, devices used to verify a sign-in. Microsoft recommends passkeys for protection against phishing, where attackers trick people into giving up sign-in information.
Microsoft says SMS and voice authentication are vulnerable to phishing and SIM-swap attacks, in which attackers take control of a phone number. Organizations that still need these methods can configure a customer-managed telecom provider through the Microsoft Security Store. The retirement ends Microsoft’s native delivery service, rather than preventing organizations from using another provider.
Microsoft has asked administrators to complete migration before the retirement rollout begins on February 1, 2027, so affected users can continue completing multifactor authentication and signing in.
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