Microsoft Authenticator is available for Android and iOS devices. It does not support desktops. Open-source competitor 2FAS offers browser extensions, which you can use on desktops, too. There’s also no Microsoft Authenticator app for Android Wear OS or Apple watchOS. Of the apps I’ve reviewed, Authy is the only one with an app for watchOS, while Stratum supports Wear OS.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
You don’t have to create or sign into a Microsoft account to generate or store MFA codes in the app, which is great. Authentication only requires token generation, which is not particularly complicated, so I like it when these apps don’t require an email address, phone number, or other personal information to use the app’s basic functions.
When I last reviewed the app, Microsoft had just removed access to auto-filling capabilities (which are now part of Microsoft’s new, AI-enriched Edge browser), and customers could access their password vaults to export their credentials. In the latest update, the app’s interface no longer references its password management past, and customers can only choose from a list of authentication tokens or Verified IDs.
If you’re switching from another authenticator app to Microsoft Authenticator, the process isn’t easy. You can’t import your login token list from other apps, unlike other apps. Instead, you’ll need to remove the old 2FA tokens from your accounts and manually add each one again in your new Microsoft Authenticator vault. Aegis and Stratum allow customers to import token lists and export their existing tokens to a different app.
