Forum Discussion
MicrosoftNow, autofill your saved passwords from Microsoft Edge on your phone!
Greetings Insiders!
We’re excited to announce that you can now autofill passwords saved in Microsoft Edge under your Microsoft account on your mobile devices as well! We’d heard from Microsoft Edge users that not being able to autofill their passwords when browsing apps and sites on mobile was a hassle. This is now solved with the latest release of the Microsoft Authenticator app. You can now set Microsoft Authenticator as the default autofill provider both on iOS and Android, and sync passwords saved under your Microsoft account on Microsoft Edge to the Authenticator app. This feature is in Preview, and we’d love for you to try it and provide your feedback!
Here’s a sneak peek of autofill experience on Android. Similar experience exists for iOS.
When you visit a site or app for which you have saved a password, Authenticator offers to autofill it.
Authenticator prompts you to save your password when you visit an app and enter your password on the login page.
Getting started:
To use the autofill feature and sync passwords, use your Microsoft account (Outlook, Hotmail, Live.com etc.) and follow these simple steps. We’ve provided Android screenshots below – the feature is available both on iOS and Android.
- Open the Microsoft Authenticator app, go to Settings -> Beta -> Autofill, and turn the toggle ON.
- Then, go to Passwords tab, and sign-in using your Microsoft account or sync passwords from a Microsoft account already added to Authenticator app.
Note: If you are already using autofill on Microsoft Edge with a Microsoft account, we recommend signing into Passwords tab inside Authenticator app with the same Microsoft account. This will ensure your autofill data stays in sync between Microsoft Edge and your mobile device.
- Finally, make Authenticator the default autofill provider on your phone. There are in-app nudges and app settings that will guide you to set Authenticator as the autofill provider (Android app settings screenshot provided below). You can also follow these instructions.
- iOS: Open device Settings -> Search for “Autofill Passwords” -> Click on “Autofill Passwords” -> Select “Authenticator”.
- Android: Open device Settings -> Search for “Autofill” -> Select “Auto-fill service” -> Click on “Auto-fill service” on next screen -> Select “Authenticator”.
- If you also browse on Google Chrome on desktop, you can sync and autofill the same passwords using our Chrome Extension.
Pre-requisites
Autofill experience is rolling out in Authenticator app on iOS (iOS 12.0 and above) and Android (Android 6.0 and above). Autofill feature using Microsoft Authenticator is currently in Preview and has not been enabled for all organizations or account types. If the “Autofill” toggle in Settings is grayed out for you, it is likely because you also use Authenticator app with your work account. You can use this feature on a device where your work account is not added. Organizations can contact us via their support channel contact to enable this feature. For more details, please check out the Preview launch announcement from Microsoft Authenticator here and the Microsoft Authenticator FAQs page.
We look forward to your feedback!
Sanjay Joshi
Senior Program Manager
Microsoft Mobile Experiences Team
- I have MS Edge Dev and MS Edge Official Build Stable on my Surface Pro. I stopped using the built-in Password keeper and autofill some time ago (for reasons which I cannot remember) and am using the MS Autofill extension instead. I use Edge on my iPhone as well as Authenticator. Would you please indicate which of these products synch with each other, when, and how, as well as where the information is stored?
- The original post said that Edge & Microsoft Authenticator sync immediately so it does not matter.
Android is v13. The autofill setting is selected as Authenticator; however, Passwords remain set to Google. Autofill does not work because it is looking for the password to autofill only in the Google password app and the passwords are stored in Authenticator.
I am unable to get "Passwords" changed so that it is set to Authenticator.
I am running Android 14 on a Motorola phone. Passwords is set to Google and Autofill is set to Edge. I can not get the phone to sync/use the Edge passwords from my Windows Edge computer. Is this a configuration issue, or did Motorola not implement this feature in Android 14, or something else.
- That is likely because the new Credential Management API with support for multiple Authenticators / Autofill services + Passkey providers is only in Android 14 and above. Similarly, iOS 17 and above.
Hey, @HotCakeX Sanjay_Joshi
Another suggestion that I have is the Microsoft Authenticator use the new Autofill with keyboards, for those who have the Android 11. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/text/ime-autofill
It cool, including, if the Microsoft SwiftKey has this integration with this API too
Sanjay_Joshivctgomes Thanks for this input - yes, this is something we're looking into!
- Please help Samsung Internet devs incorporate this
Does not work for me on Edge Android. Edge is not syncing saved passwords and Authenticator does not offer saved passwords from app. Very disappointing
- Check if sync is working properly.
Rohit Yadav I reinstalled Edge on my Android, sync went ok, no passwords were transferred to phone. Android app is independent in this from PC Edge. Strange. Microsoft Authenticator set as default autofill app, does not offer passwords.
The AutoFill setting is disabled on my device, and I am a bit confused by this FAQ answer:
Q: What if Autofill switch is grayed out for me in Settings?
A: Autofill is currently in beta and has not yet been enabled for all organizations or account types. If the Autofill switch in Settings is grayed out for you, it is likely because you are using Authenticator app with your work account. You can use this feature on a device where your work account isn’t added. If your organization works with Microsoft, the Autofill switch will be enabled even when a work account is added to Authenticator.
I have registered many personal and work-related accounts in Authenticator, including Microsoft accounts, Office365 accounts, Okta, OneLogin, etc.
- What constitutes a "work account" for an "organization that does not work with Microsoft"?
- Why would such an account prevent me from using the AutoFill feature with my personal Microsoft account passwords?
- Is this restriction only for the beta?
Thanks,
JC
- Sanjay_Joshi
jcsharp Thank you for testing the feature and sharing your feedback with us!
- "Work or school accounts" refer to Azure Active Directory (AAD) accounts that is likely added to Authenticator app if you're using your mobile device to access work email etc.
- Authenticator app is popular both with enterprises and non-enterprise users, and we wanted to ensure enterprises had time to understand the Autofill feature before wider rollout. Hence, we started with the approach to turn off Autofill if a work or school account is added to Authenticator app. If an organization wants to enable Autofill, we've published a form using which they can express interest in joining the allowList (available in our FAQs)
- We're actively working on making it easier and faster for enterprises to themselves manage whether they want Autofill enabled for their organizations or not. You'll see improvements here in the near future!
I do NOT want to use the Microsoft Authenticator app for the authentication stuff it was made for. I installed it in the hope I could turn on the password Autofill part but turn off the Authenticator part, but apparently that's not possible. I got the autofill fine, but also immediate authentication hassle with no apparent way to turn that off, and in the end had to uninstall the app.
I hope you will consider making an autofill ONLY app, as that I would use. This I won't, unless you add an option to turn off the authentication part.
- "immediate authentication hassle"
it's actually the opposite. the authenticator makes everything hassle-free by providing Passwordless sign in.
Sanjay_Joshi This works great ! I was happy to have it, but there are a few things preventing me to leave it enabled.
One issue lies with Edge itself : on Android, enabling Authenticator's accessibility service makes Edge go into an "accessibility-oriented" UI, changing the main "..." menu into a list for example, and the tab view (with thumbnails) into a list (without thumbnails). This UI can certainly be nice to have for those who need it, but it can't be disabled manually, forcing you to disable any accessibility services to restore the original Edge UI.
Since many apps such as Authenticator use accessibility services for other purposes, the lack of a manual toggle in Edge for its accessibility mode seems like an issue, especially now that a MS app relies on the accessibility services.The other issue is that you can't enable it for your personal account if it finds any work/school account on any app on the phone. I thought it was fine since I don't have a work/school account in Authenticator, but no - having your school account in the outlook app prevents you from enabling autofill in the app. You can delete that account from outlook and successfully enable autofill, but then you don't get mails or calendar, and autofills is auto-disabled as soon as you add the school account back.
- Sanjay_Joshi
AmineI Thank you for sharing your inputs and testing the product! We'll look into how we can make your experience smoother with accessibility turned ON. About Autofill currently not working with work or school accounts - we're actively working on building the right controls using which Autofill can be easily managed by organizations. This is an important focus for us and you'll see improvements here in the near future!
- Sanjay_Joshi
AmineI Thank you for sharing your inputs and testing the product! We'll look into how we can make your experience smoother with accessibility turned ON. About Autofill currently not working with work or school accounts - we're actively working on building the right controls using which Autofill can be easily managed by organizations. This is an important focus for us and you'll see improvements here in the near future!
Thank you for sharing your inputs and testing the product!
Many thanks to you and the team working on the features - this is awesome.
About Autofill currently not working with work or school accounts
I'll be sure to check back for improvements ! But I may have been unclear.
The thing is I don't want to enable Autofill for my work/school account - I understand it is not working and it makes perfect sense. Them having the right controls is important, as you said; especially for secure data such as passwords.
In my scenario, I want to enable autofill for my personal account, but I can't do so because Authenticator detected a work/school account in the Outlook app.
What I do not understand is why having a work/school account on *my device* prevents me to use autofill with *my personal account*.
Whether or not school/work organizations want to allow autofill for their accounts is their choice, and they have control over it. But I believe these controls should impact their organizations' accounts only, and not impact using autofill with a personal account on a personal device as it does currently.
I think jcsharp was asking for the same thing in his second point.
Anyway, I'll wait for improvements in these scenarios hopefully - thanks again for your answers regarding our queries, and congrats to the team for the feature launch !
Sanjay_Joshi I tested Microsoft Authenticator to autofill Edge-iOS passwords on my iPhone, with mixed and inconsistent results. The product is still in development, clearly. I reported the issues, removed the app, and may test again in a month or two after the product has matured somewhat.
As I think about it, I'm not at all sure that I want to turn over password autofill to Microsoft Authenticator on an Apple product, which is what the product demands for smooth functioning. Apple's autofill feature seems to work fine, is integrated into iOS, and (for that reason) is probably less prone to failure than Microsoft Authenticator. I store only a handful of passwords on my iPhone, so I have no need to bring over all my browser passwords. It wasn't that hard to set up the autofill using the iOS native password manager, and I'm content with it.
I'm using Microsoft Autofill, the Google Chrome Store extension equivalent of Microsoft Authenticator, as a temporary workaround to autofill Edge-Linux passwords on one of my Linux computers where I'm testing Edge-Linux. Microsoft Autofill identifies and apparently treats Edge-Linux as Google Chrome. As far as I can tell after a few day's use, Microsoft Autofill works flawlessly Edge-Linux, and I intend to continue to use it until Microsoft gets around to enabling sync in Edge-Linux. If nothing else, it converts Edge-Linux from bling to a useful browser that can be used for testing Edge-Linux in a real-world environment.
I have to laugh a bit, though. Microsoft Authenticator doesn't yet work smoothly where it was intended to work, but Microsoft Autofill works flawlessly where it was not intended to be used.
- hhmm, Is this supposed to sync all my passwords from my other devices, like the ones that are saved on this pc in edge? Or on edge that is on my phone that are all signed in with the same MS account? If so, it is not working. Keeps saying "sync in progress" but nothing is showing up on the password screen, except those I currently might use since allowing this app...
Dennis5mile- Sanjay_Joshi
Dennis5mile Hi Dennis, thanks for sharing your feedback. Were you able to sync your passwords from Edge to Authenticator app? As you shared, yes, all passwords saved in Microsoft Edge under your Microsoft account should sync to Authenticator once you sign-in with the same Microsoft account on the "Passwords" tab in the Authenticator app. I'll also share this input with my team and we'll look for any potential issues.
- Passwords are Still not showing up.. I get sync in progress and they do not sync or I get sync has timed out. It is all the same MS account just none of them are being synced.. It does save PW's when I use them on the phone to log into an account, it ask to save it and it does get saved, but nothing is getting synced from any of my other devices...
Dennis5mile
Dennis5mile I have seen this same syncing in progress issue. If I close the Authenticator app completely from the android screen and then start it again, the passwords show up and are already synced.
- I haven't recieved my saved passwords yet that you have been saving for me. you have two saved passwords that you have saved for me.
This is very valuable feature , especially when mobile device of user have been stolen and it has all saved password on it and they always had trouble to recover them back.
Reza_Ameri-Archived wrote:This is very valuable feature , especially when mobile device of user have been stolen and it has all saved password on it and they always had trouble to recover them back.
Not really.
before this, people usually use Android's built in password manager which is connected to Chrome or IOS's own credential manager which is tied to Safari and other services.
nobody loses their passwords.
of course this feature has many advantages but the one you mentioned is not one of them because it was already possible, even with Edge.
