This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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?
A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.
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.
Many thanks for such a prompt reply. It’s very frustrating and I now feel vulnerable without two-factor authentication. I may well try the email route, but it’s such a waste of time and energy!
I don't really have a resolution...on one of my PCs that had changed to PIN, I restored my entire C: drive back to mid-January and this got me back to using the Microsoft Authenticator code. This is a pretty drastic solution and I'm concerned additional updates may break the multi-factor authentication.
I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Windows support and they couldn't explain why it happened or how to fix it. They referred me to the OneDrive support team - I've gotten one suggestion to unlink and relink the PC which I have done - this didn't fix the multi-factor authentication problem. I did reply this morning to OneDrive support that their suggestion didn't work.
I think you can open a case directly with OneDrive support - they only work via email - and I would suggest that. Microsoft doesn't seem to really be aware that some number of users are experiencing a broken multi-factor authentication with One Drive Personal Vault. I've seen it mentioned on Reddit too.
I have this issue on my Windows 11 machine as of a couple of weeks ago. Without me making any changes I now have only local options like fingerprint or pin. This machine has both Onedrive personal and Onedrive Business on it. I removed Onedrive and and reinstalled Onedrive personal only. The external authentication worked again, Onedrive requesting authentication through the app. As soon as I add Onedrive business Onedrive personal reverts to local authentication with no means to choose proper external 2FA.
I have the same Onedrive personal and Onedrive Business setup on two Windows 10 machines, and they both have the personal vault authentication working properly.
I hate having to reinstall OneDrive as I like my defaults to be local and as with so many MS things MS assume you like things to suit them rather than you.
Yusuf,
Thank you for your prompt reply. However, that link refers to work or school accounts. I have a work account, but I also have a personal Office subscription. It is the vault for my personal account that I want to authenticate like it did before with Microsoft Authenticator.
Hello Dave984,
So sorry for the inconvenience.
Kindly try to re-setup your Microsoft Authenticator as a two-step verification for your personal vault, using the link below, and see if this restores your authenticator for personal vault.
I hope this helps.
Regards, Yusuf