mfa without Authenticator

Question

We are a small business, trying to download and use new Microsoft 365 Nonprofit. Team members do not like MS Authenticator app and would like to use just their phone (a text) for MFA. How do I enable this as Global Admin?

Answer 1

Hi Susan,

If the Microsoft 365 Nonprofit offer includes Azure AD Premium 1 or Premium 2 licenses then you can enable the alternative MFA methods for phone or text. To accomplish this you'll need to do disable the "Security Defaults" setting in Azure AD and enable Conditional Access policies.

To disable security defaults in your directory:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal as a security administrator, Conditional Access administrator, or global administrator.
2. Browse to Azure Active Directory > Properties.
3. Select Manage security defaults.
4. Set the Enable security defaults toggle to No.
5. Select Save.

Next you'll need to create Conditional Access Policies. Refer to the following article for more details.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/tutorial-enable-azure-mfa

Hope that helps you,
Travis