I can’t logon to my Microsoft Account

Microsoft Modern Authentication

Some users may be experiencing problems when trying to connect to their Microsoft 365 account due to changes made recently by Microsoft.

They have been gradually switching all user accounts to “Modern Authentication” whereas they used to use “Basic Authentication”

What does this mean to me?

When you attempt to use any Microsoft apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel etc you may be prompted to reconnect to your Microsoft account. A screen will appear asking you to log on and when you enter your username and password it will not accept it.

How can I tell which method is being used?

The logon screens for Basic and Modern authentication look different. The basic one is simpler and generally does not include the Microsoft logo. Here are examples of both screens for reference.

Basic Authentication
Modern Authentication

What can I do to resolve the problem?

If you are using old versions of Microsoft apps or if your device has not been updated recently you should update to the latest versions.

Office 2013 Users.

Microsoft Office 2013 on Microsoft Windows computers supports Modern authentication. But, to turn it on, you need to update your registry as follows:

  • Close Outlook.
  • Copy and paste the following text into Notepad:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange]
"AlwaysUseMSOAuthForAutoDiscover"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity]
"EnableADAL"=dword:00000001
"Version"=dword:00000001
  • Save the file with the file extension .reg instead of .txt in a location that’s easy for you to find. For example, C:\Data\Office2013_Enable_ModernAuth.reg.
  • Open File Explorer (formerly known as Windows Explorer), browse to the location of the .reg file you just saved, and then double-click it.
  • In the User account control dialog that appears, click Yes to allow the app to make changes to your device.
  • In the Registry Editor warning dialog that appears, click Yes to accept the changes.

Where can I get more help?

If making changes to your registry makes you nervous or if you need any help in upgrading any of your applications, you can contact us and we will be happy to either talk you through it or do the updates for you. Just give us a ring right now.