Microsoft Authenticator
Ranked 3 of 5 authenticator apps by recommenders
Recommended for working two-factor sign-in with Microsoft accounts and Teams, and for push approvals. Critics say it sends ads through notifications and blocks TOTP export.
Recommended for working two-factor sign-in with Microsoft accounts and Teams, and for push approvals. Critics say it sends ads through notifications and blocks TOTP export.
64 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 51
- approval share
- 20%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well with Microsoft accounts
“the account plays very nice with the Microsoft Authenticator app”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Yep, Passkeys Still Have Problems” “it's been pretty seamless with Microsoft Authenticator for Teams”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo” “Authenticator certainly works today”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “GrapheneOS: Microsoft Authenticator does not support secure Android OS” - Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon”
Used for work two-factor logins
“I'll keep using the MS authenticator on my phone for 2FA instead.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Passkeys are not a trap” “I use microsoft authenticator, in its own work profile for work”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple” Works on GrapheneOS when unrooted
“Microsoft Authenticator works on my GrapheneOS (not rooted).”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “Microsoft authenticator should work on GOS”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Privacy and control. My tech setup”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Pushes proprietary 2FA instead of TOTP
“Microsoft sites (and others) frequently require you to use their bespoke 2FA app instead of using the open TOTP protocol.”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Passkeys are not a trap” “Microsoft and others insist on using their snowflake authenticator instead of using the standard protocol”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Passkeys are not a trap” “set the option to only allow Microsoft's proprietary 2FA, which only works with the Microsoft app”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Microsoft Authenticator to nuke Entra creds on rooted and jailbroken phones” Won't run on GrapheneOS
“I have at least one app that won't run under GrapheneOS (Microsoft Authenticator) so I'll be stuck with a two-phone carry”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Your Phone Is About to Stop Being Yours: 70 Days Until Lockdown” “some apps that I need for work, like Microsoft Authenticator, no longer work under GrapheneOS”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “Trying to use Microsoft Authenticator without Google services is something circular like this”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “A Bus Ride and the (At Least) 3x UX FAILs” Pushes ads through notification permission
“they have started abusing the notification permission granted to allow authenticator to work to push out ads for Microsoft 365”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Copilot edited an ad into my PR” “Microsoft blurred the line between security notifications (approve/deny prompts) and marketing.”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Copilot edited an ad into my PR” Number-matching overlay gets in the way
“On Android, out of the blue, it displays global overlay to select one of the 3 numbers to confirm login.”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “FreeBSD Capsicum vs. Linux Seccomp Process Sandboxing” “the default authenticator flow also has the chance of accidentally hitting the right number”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Scammers are abusing an internal Microsoft account to send spam links”
Other authenticator apps people recommend
The four most recommended other authenticator apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis Authenticator | 28 | 1 | 97% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Ente Auth | 22 | 4 | 85% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Microsoft AuthenticatorThis page | 13 | 51 | 20% | 7 | — | — |
| Google Authenticator | 9 | 9 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| Authy | 6 | 15 | 29% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 71 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have at least one app that won't run under GrapheneOS (Microsoft Authenticator) so I'll be stuck with a two-phone carry”
“typing an Okta password into some random app's webview gives me the warm fuzzies!”
“companies that already force the use of Microsoft Authenticator, which forces you to use a locked-down phone”
“I'll keep using the MS authenticator on my phone for 2FA instead.”
“it forced me to set up a passkey using MS Authenticator (on my phone)”
“Microsoft and others insist on using their snowflake authenticator instead of using the standard protocol”
“Microsoft sites (and others) frequently require you to use their bespoke 2FA app instead of using the open TOTP protocol.”
“obviously tries to con you into installing it by also advertising that it allows you to "sign in to your Microsoft accounts"”
“I have to have MS Authenticator installed just for this 1 login. Super annoying.”
“Proper Microsoft authenticator setup is more secure than OTP because it's pushed based”
“If anything does not work its related to dependency of the App maker on a certain attestation google play services”
“MS Authenticotor works just fine”
“Microsoft Authenticator works on my GrapheneOS (not rooted).”
“some apps that I need for work, like Microsoft Authenticator, no longer work under GrapheneOS”
“if you set up the Microsoft Authenticator app from a phone, it will force it to passwordless if you have any type of lock on your phone”
“it does lead to these questions about why an entire class of applications (banking apps and security apps) whose role should be mostly never to send notifications”
“Microsoft Authenticator is not standard TOTP, but their own private flavor.”
“Some Microsoft setups ONLY allow Authenticator - can't use 1pass etc.”
“It is doing something different than RFC 6238, which theoretically is more secure. The way they have it implemented is worse than if they did nothing though.”
“Everyone should disable microsoft authenticator and uninstall it. It is a massive vector.”
“my Microsoft authenticator has been pinging about sign-ins from random places”
“the default authenticator flow also has the chance of accidentally hitting the right number”
“They hide the option away, but there is a button to click to use your own authenticator app”
“Microsoft blurred the line between security notifications (approve/deny prompts) and marketing.”
“they have started abusing the notification permission granted to allow authenticator to work to push out ads for Microsoft 365”
“the safest for me has always been the boring one”
“set the option to only allow Microsoft's proprietary 2FA, which only works with the Microsoft app”
“Disappointing they consider our OS rooted when its actually more secure than stock Android.”
“I made the mistake of using them, and now I can't export and move my data to a different authenticator”
“On Android, out of the blue, it displays global overlay to select one of the 3 numbers to confirm login.”
“Authenticator certainly works today”
“it's been pretty seamless with Microsoft Authenticator for Teams”
“No issues there with the Microsoft Authenticator and Yubico Authenticator.”
“I use microsoft authenticator, in its own work profile for work”
“Microsoft authenticator should work on GOS”
“Why would you use Microsoft Authenticator when there are hundreds of other apps that manage OTPs?”
“the account plays very nice with the Microsoft Authenticator app”
“where I have to use their specific authenticator app or I can't login anymore”
“Trying to use Microsoft Authenticator without Google services is something circular like this”
“Microsoft Authenticator is the biggest offender that comes to mind - without it, I cannot work.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.