Why did Personal Vault authentication change?

Anonymous
2022-10-10T17:31:28+00:00

It used to be that when I accessed my Personal Vault, it would ask me to authenticate with Microsoft Authenticator. That suddenly disappeared, and now it gives me the options of authenticating with a fingerprint or my PIN. I don't want my PIN to work to get to my Personal Vault. Other people use my PIN to access my machine. I don't want to use the same authentication to get to my personal vault. I want that to go to Microsoft Authenticator so that it is different.

Why did it change, and how can I change it back?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

44 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-02-06T18:46:05+00:00

    I have the same issue. Have used MS 365/OneDrive (Family version) for over a year. Access from 4 different personal PCs.

    Personal Vault always required MS Authenticator code to open. In last week or so, two of my PCs began allowing the Personal Vault to be opened with only a PIN. I did not make this change and really need my Personal Vault to require two-factor authentication.

    It must be something specific to the individual PCs as I can sit side-by-side with one requiring Authenticator and the one allowing PIN access.

    This is really irritating as I specifically want the additional security...

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-27T03:11:18+00:00

    I have considered this, unfortunately it results in either a loss of functionality ir of security.

    With the way it had been working before recent changes broke it delivered two operational scenarios:

    1. Normal operations where I sign into my device via PIN. The device is trusted and my normal files, links, etc sync automatically among my 4 devices. Works great since I routinely move to multiple devices each day.
    2. Personal Vault access where I keep my most sensitive personal documents. To open used to always require entering a separate code from the MS Authenticator app. This was true TFA requiring access and use of an entirely separate device and app. Some what inconvenient but worth it for signicantly greater security.

    Again, it appears someone ‘fixed’ something that wasn’t broken and really didn’t understand the security implications.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-01-25T19:33:46+00:00

    Same problem here, this messing up with the security features is really unacceptable

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-04T11:54:55+00:00

    I have the same question - though I notice that if you click on "Sign in another way" there is an option to send a request to phone which uses the authenticator app - I'd like this to be the default as it previously was and I also do not want access to be granted using the pin.

    "Because you're accessing sensitive info for ******@hotmail.com, we'll send a request to your phone to verify your identity."

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-10-20T21:20:04+00:00

    Does anyone have an answer for this question? For all intents and purposes, it means that the Personal Vault is no longer using two factor authentication.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments