Are app passwords still required for Outlook 365 even if I'm running the very latest build?

Iron Contributor

I want to enable MFA on my Microsoft 365 tenant, but have a question about how MFA is handled by the desktop version of Outlook 365 Pro Plus.   At Ignite this year, I thought I was told that MFA would now be a native feature of the latest Outlook 365 Pro Plus releases, but when I enable MFA on my account, and attempt to launch Outlook, I get prompted for a password that isn't my Microsoft 365 password, so I'm assuming it still wants an app password.


Is this the expected behavior for MFA on the very latest build version of Outlook 365?

4 Replies

Hello @OneTechBeyond,

 

No, it is not. App passwords should only be required on applications that could not support modern auth (so older versions of outlook for instance).

 

On the new download of outlook (really anything past 2013), you should be able to do legitimate MFA without an app password.

 

With that said, if you sitll have an app password associated with your account, that could be why. Check the portal, and delete any app password associated with yourself and outlook/office and try again.

 

adam

That's what I thought.

 

Do you know exactly where in the Admin portal, I should be able to find a user's app password list?

You cannot view user's app passwords, but you can force delete them via the portal by navigating to https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/UserManagement/MultifactorVerification.aspx?culture..., selecting the user, Manage user settings, second option there.

 

Your own app passwords you can manage via: https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/securityInfo#/register

Have you enabled Modern Auth in Exchange Online. If your tenant in Office 365 is more than about 14 months old (Aug 2017 or earlier) then you need to turn this on otherwise you will need an App Password.