Microsoft Entra ID · authentication change
Microsoft is retiring SMS and voice sign-in codes across Microsoft 365. If your team logs in with a six-digit text, that stops working. We move your firm to passkeys before the deadline, calmly and without disrupting a single workday.
SOURCE: MICROSOFT ENTRA ID · SMS & VOICE RETIREMENT · ANNOUNCED 2026
The timeline
This applies to every Microsoft 365 organization. There is no opt-out from the final deadline, so the only question is whether the transition happens on your schedule or Microsoft's.
Microsoft automatically turns on passkeys for anyone still using text or voice codes, and starts prompting them to register at sign-in. Unmanaged, these prompts confuse people and generate help-desk calls.
Microsoft-provided text and voice codes are fully retired from Entra ID. Six-digit texts simply stop being an option for signing in to Microsoft 365.
Anyone whose only sign-in method was a text or voice code hits a blocking screen: register a passkey before you can get back into your account. Microsoft applies this to every organization, no exceptions.
Why this is happening
A six-digit code can be phished, intercepted, or stolen with a SIM swap. Attackers know this, which is why so many account takeovers start with a convincing "verify your login" text. Microsoft is removing the weakest link.
Passkeys replace codes with the same thing that unlocks your phone: Face ID, a fingerprint, or your device PIN. There is nothing to type, nothing to intercept, and nothing to phish. It is both more secure and genuinely faster.
For firms handling privileged client matters, this is also the direction cyber insurers and client security questionnaires are already heading.
How we handle it
We run the whole transition end to end: one plan, one login experience, and real humans walking your team through enrollment before Microsoft's prompts ever appear.
We audit your Microsoft 365 tenant and give you a clear list of everyone still signing in with text or voice codes.
Passkeys live in 1Password Business and connect through Microsoft single sign-on, so one secure login opens everything your team uses.
Plain-English comms and white-glove registration sessions, so every attorney, partner, and assistant is set up before the deadline pressure starts.
We confirm full coverage, retire text codes on your schedule, and document the change for your insurer and client security reviews.
nicwerks® is a 1Password for Business partner. We pair 1Password with Microsoft single sign-on so your passkeys, passwords, and shared credentials live in one managed, auditable place, and login becomes the easiest part of anyone's day.
The bottom line
of Microsoft 365 organizations are covered by the February 2027 enforcement. There is no opt-out and no extension.
in Microsoft fees to move users to passkeys. Keeping SMS through a third-party telecom provider will cost per message.
between now and auto-enablement on September 1, 2026. Firms that move first choose their own pace and avoid the blocking prompts entirely.
Source: Microsoft Entra ID documentation, "Passkeys by default and retirement of Microsoft-provided SMS and voice authentication," updated July 2026.
download the one-page brief (PDF)A passkey readiness review takes one call. We'll tell you exactly who in your firm is affected, what the transition looks like, and what it costs. No pressure, no jargon.