Forum Discussion
Guest user | recent change in the authentication method
Hi, due to the recent change MC1243549 - retirement of OTP for guest users in SharePoint/OneDrive, we are having a big impact with external collaboration. The external users who do not have company-managed devices and are reluctant to install work-related software or authentication applications on their personal devices are unable to meet the new access requirements, this is significantly impacting business activities. Any suggestion on this topic will be helpful. Do any of you have a similar issue?
Thanks!
1 Reply
Hi KSMB,
I don't think this will be as big an impact as it looks.
If your tenant requires MFA for guest users, here's what the external user actually goes through:
- They click the shared link and enter their email address.
- They get prompted to set up MFA — install Microsoft Authenticator on their phone, scan the QR code shown on screen, and approve the prompt.
- That's it. They're into the document.
It's a one-time setup. After that they just approve a prompt when they open shared links, and it works the same for anything else shared with them later.
It also doesn't matter whether they're on a company-managed device or a personal one, or whether they're signing in with a personal account. The requirement is the MFA setup, not the device.
Only real thing to manage is expectation-setting with your business users — tell them external contacts will hit a one-off setup screen the first time.
Thanks,
Ramesh
