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Set up MFA from your Mac

Turn on multi-factor authentication using your Mac and your phone together.

You will need your phone as well as this computer. The Authenticator app lives on the phone, and the Mac displays the QR code you scan with it.
  1. On your phone, install Microsoft Authenticator from the App Store or Play Store. Check the publisher is Microsoft Corporation. Open it once and allow notifications.
  2. On this Mac, go to aka.ms/mfasetup and sign in with your Microsoft 365 email address.
  3. On the Security info page, click Add sign-in method, choose Microsoft Authenticator, then click Add.
  4. Click Next until a QR code appears on screen.
  5. On the phone, in Authenticator, tap the + at the top, then Work or school account, then Scan a QR code. Allow camera access.
  6. Point the phone camera at the QR code on this screen. The account appears in the app immediately.
  7. This Mac now shows a two-digit number. Type that number into the prompt on your phone and tap Yes.
  8. Click Next, then Done.
  9. From now on, when you sign in to your Microsoft 365 email on a new device, you will be shown a two-digit number and asked to confirm it on your phone.

Open your Microsoft Security info page →

Add a second method while you are on the Security info page, usually your mobile number for a text message code. It costs nothing and it is what saves you when your phone is flat, lost or being repaired.
Only ever approve a request you triggered yourself. If a notification appears when you are not signing in to anything, tap No or Deny, change your password straight away, and contact us. An unexpected prompt means somebody else already has your password and is trying to get in.
Getting a new phone? Set Authenticator up on the new phone before you wipe or hand back the old one. If the old phone goes first you can be locked out of your own email, and getting back in is slow. Turn on cloud backup in Authenticator (Settings → Backup) and add a mobile number as a second method to make this painless.
Stuck on any step? Open a support ticket with support@diskman.net and we will walk you through it.