Microsoft is ushering in major changes to how users secure their accounts, declaring that “the password era is ending” and warning that “bad actors know it” and are “desperately accelerating password-related attacks while they still can.”
These updates, rolling out immediately, impact the Microsoft Authenticator app. Previously, the app let users securely store and autofill passwords on apps and websites you visit on your phone. However, starting this month, “you will not be able to use autofill with Authenticator.”
A more significant shift is just weeks away. “From August,” Microsoft cautions, “your saved passwords will no longer be accessible in Authenticator.” Users have until August 2025 to transfer their stored passwords elsewhere, or risk losing access altogether. As the company emphasized, “any generated passwords not saved will be deleted.”
These moves are part of Microsoft’s broader initiative to phase out traditional passwords in favor of passkeys. The tech giant, alongside Google and other industry leaders, points out that passwords represent a major security vulnerability. Despite common safeguards like two-factor authentication (2FA), account credentials can still be intercepted or compromised.
Passkeys, by contrast, bind account access to device-level security, requiring biometrics or a PIN to log in. This means there’s no password to steal, phish, or share. The FIDO Alliance explains: “passkeys are phishing resistant and secure by design. They inherently help reduce attacks from cybercriminals such as phishing, credential stuffing, and other remote attacks. With passkeys there are no passwords to steal and there is no sign-in data that can be used to perpetuate attacks.”
For users currently relying on Authenticator’s password storage, Microsoft advises moving credentials to the Edge browser or exporting them to another password manager. But more importantly, this is a chance to upgrade your key accounts to passkeys.
Authenticator will continue to support passkeys going forward. Microsoft advises: “If you have set up Passkeys for your Microsoft Account, ensure that Authenticator remains enabled as your Passkey Provider. Disabling Authenticator will disable your passkeys.”