Microsoft says new accounts will be “passwordless by default”, asking people to use more secure methods like passkeys, push notifications, and security keys
Upgrade Your Email Account Today Vinayak Guhanarayan / MakeUseOf : You'll Never Have to Create a Microsoft Account Password Again Craig Donaldson / Pocket-lint : Microsoft makes passwords a thing of the past for new users Usman Qureshi / iPhone in Canada Blog : Microsoft Sets New Accounts to Passkey-Only by Default Christianna Silva / Mashable : Sick of 15-character passwords? Microsoft is going password-less, starting now. Samantha Kelly / CNET : You'll No Longer Need to Set a Password With New Microsoft Accounts Amar Ćemanović / CyberInsider : Microsoft Drops Passwords in Favor of Passkeys on New Accounts PCWorld : Microsoft is now forcing new users to adopt a passwordless future Jeremy Laird / PC Gamer : Microsoft says it wants to completely ditch passwords as it makes passwordless login the default for all new accounts Markus Kasanmascheff / WinBuzzer : Microsoft Makes New Consumer Accounts Passwordless by Default Himani Jha / Digit : Microsoft to make new accounts password-free by default; Here's what it means Jowi Morales / Tom's Hardware : Microsoft makes passkeys the default authentication method for all new accounts Pierluigi Paganini / Security Affairs : Microsoft sets all new accounts passwordless by default Sweta Kumari / Business Standard : Microsoft to make new accounts password-free by default: What changes Pradeep Singh / Security Boulevard : Microsoft Urges 1 Billion Users: Ditch Passwords for Security Laurent Giret / Thurrott : New Microsoft Accounts Are Now Passwordless By Default Darragh Murphy / Tom's Guide : No passwords required — Microsoft makes passwordless the default for new users Guru Baran / Cyber Security News : 15 Billion User Gain Passwordless Access to Microsoft Account Using Passkeys Martin Brinkmann / Ghacks : Microsoft: 68 percent of users who sign in with passwords fail James Peckham / PCMag : Microsoft Moves to Passkeys as the Default on All New Accounts Swagath Bandhakavi / Tech Monitor : Microsoft makes new accounts passwordless by default in global push for passkeys Dwayne Cubbins / TechIssuesToday.com : Microsoft says new accounts will be passwordless by default Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends : Microsoft accounts will push you to ditch passwords and use a passkey The Hacker News : Microsoft Sets Passkeys Default for New Accounts; 15 Billion Users Gain Passwordless Support Simon Batt / XDA Developers : Microsoft is scrapping passwords by default for new accounts as the company pushes for other authentication methods Bluesky: Laurie Voss / @seldo.com : My Windows 11 install refuses to allow me to login with a password, but it runs in a virtual machine, so none of the hardware authentication options are available, so instead it forces me log in with... a 6 digit PIN. This is somehow better. www.theverge.com/news/659929/ ... Corey Quinn / @quinnypig.com : Good on Microsoft. This is an example of them at their absolute best. [embedded post] Emil Protalinski / @emilprotalinski : Is it weird that I'm excited about this? I can't wait for the day that my parents no longer blankly look at me when I ask them what their password is. [embedded post] Cethan Leahy / @cethanleahy.com : I refuse to believe the internal feedback in Microsoft was “yes, we need more of the Authenticator app, the most annoying creation in existence”. [embedded post] Tom Warren / @tomwarren.co.uk : Microsoft is going passwordless by default on new accounts. If you sign up for a new Microsoft Account, you'll be offered to use authentication methods like passkeys, push notifications, and security keys instead of a password www.theverge.com/news/659929/ ... Mastodon: Ricky Mondello / @rmondello@hachyderm.io : “Microsoft says it's seeing “nearly a million passkeys registered every day,” and that passkey users have a 98 percent success rate of signing in versus 32 percent for password-based accounts.” https://www.theverge.com/... @mttaggart@infosec.exchange : As we discovered this week, this means the password you set for a personal account on a Windows 11 machine will never be updated, no matter how you change it in the cloud—unless this includes a pretty significant change to Windows auth, anyhow. — https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ ... @brian_greenberg@infosec.exchange : 🔐 Passwords are out. Microsoft is going all-in on passkeys 🎉🧑💻 — Starting now, all new Microsoft accounts default to passwordless login: — 🔑 Passkeys — 📲 Push notifications — 🔐 FIDO2 security keys — Why it matters: … X: @msftsecurity : Tired of passwords? So are we. Passkeys offer a faster, safer, and truly passwordless way to sign in. Learn why they're the smarter replacement for passwords: https://www.microsoft.com/... #Passwordless [image] @msftsecurity : Happy World Passkey Day! How many password-related terms can you find? Learn why using passwords increases your risk of being targeted daily—and why it's time to go passwordless: https://www.microsoft.com/... #Passwordless [image] @msftsecurity : Sick of password resets and security risks? Meet passkeys—a faster, safer sign-in method with multi-factor authentication, phishing resistance, and data breach protection. https://www.youtube.com/... LinkedIn: François Fried : Microsoft just took a major step toward eliminating passwords, and it's a move the rest of the industry should be watching. … Mohit Vaish : This marks the second time in recent years that #Microsoft has taken a bold, forward looking stance to reshape how we think about cybersecurity at scale. … Forums: r/technology : Microsoft makes all new accounts passwordless by default r/technews : Microsoft goes passwordless by default on new accounts
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft has been building toward passwordless sign-in for years, from FIDO2 security-key support in Windows 10 to allowing password-free access through Authenticator, Windows Hello, keys, and codes. It also made passkeys available across consumer-account platforms in 2024 through its broader consumer passkey rollout.
The change turns an optional authentication capability into the default path for account creation. It follows Google’s 2023 account-level passkey enablement, indicating that the major account platforms are moving the transition from feature availability to onboarding design.
First-order effects
- New Microsoft Account users are steered to passkeys, push notifications, or security keys rather than creating a password, changing the account-setup flow immediately.
- Microsoft shifts more of the security and recovery experience onto its supported passwordless methods, while hardware-key and device-based sign-in become more prominent options.
Second-order effects
- The move increases pressure on other identity providers to make passwordless setup simpler, not merely offer it as an advanced setting; Google had already enabled passkeys across its accounts.
- App and support teams that depend on Microsoft Account access may see more users arrive through device- or authenticator-based sign-in, making clear recovery and cross-device guidance more important.
Third-order effects
- If default-based rollouts continue, passwords will increasingly become a fallback credential rather than the primary identity layer for large consumer platforms.
- The durable competitive issue shifts toward interoperable passkeys, account recovery, and user trust: passwordless adoption can reduce reliance on memorized secrets, but only if those flows remain usable across devices.
The trend: Major identity platforms are moving passwordless authentication from an opt-in security feature to the default account-creation experience.