# How to Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication in Microsoft 365

In this rapidly growing digital world, data security is one of the biggest concerns for individuals and organizations. It’s important to protect your critical data against potential security risks such as data breaches, phishing attacks, and unauthorized access. So, it is important to implement advanced security features like multi-factor authentication instead of using a single-factor authentication that requires only username and password for authentication purposes. Microsoft 365, provides a suite of productivity tools that organizations widely use. It offers robust security features like multi-factor authentication(MFA). Enabling MFA in Microsoft 365 enhances the security of an organization's data and protects against different kinds of cyberattacks. In this article, we will see how to set up multi-factor authentication in Microsoft 365.

## What is Multi-Factor Authentication(MFA)?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a multi-step account login process in which users are required to enter various information rather than just a password to authenticate themselves to log in to an account. For example, along with the password, users might be asked to enter a code sent to their email, answer a question, or do biometric verification such as scanning(fingerprints or iris scanner). It adds an extra layer of security, making it difficult for unauthorized users or attackers to get access to an account.

## Reasons to Use Multi-Factor Authentication in Microsoft 365
**Security-** MFA adds an extra layer of security to an account by using multiple verification methods to authenticate the users. It gets difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to an account easily. Using only a password to protect your account is not enough to protect crucial data against modern cyberattacks. According to Microsoft enabling MFA can block 99.9% account compromising attacks.

**Flexibility-** Multi-factor authentication is easy to implement and user-friendly, like those offered by Microsoft 365, are designed to be user-friendly and easy to implement. Administrators can easily enable MFA and can set up the authentication methods for the users. It provides flexibility by offering multiple verification methods like a code sent to email, phone, and text messages, and biometrics like facial recognition, fingerprints, etc.

**Cost-Saving-** Implementation of MFA can reduce costs by reducing the need for a large IT team to secure an organization’s data. IT team has to spend less time on password resets, account recovery, and other security risks.
### Enabling MFA For Bulk Users in Microsoft 365
Below are detailed steps to enable multi-factor authentication for all users using Azure AD Admin Center:
* Sign In to Azure AD admin center.
* Go to “Users”, then navigate to “All Users”.
* Click on the “More” option and select “Multi-factor Authentication”.
* Users can enable MFA for multiple users using the bulk update option. They can also check the boxes to enable MFA for required user accounts.

There are three methods available for user verification:
**Send the code to my alternate email address-** Send the code for verification to my alternate email address.
**Text code to the mobile phone-** Text verification code to the user's registered phone number.
**Through a phone call -** The user will get a verification code through a phone call to their registered phone number.

> ** Also Read:[Office 365 migration exception error**](https://migratorwizard.com/office-365/migration-failure-recipient-not-found/)

### Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication For an Individual Users
Follow the below steps to set MFA for individual users:
* Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center with an account that has the required permissions.
* Navigate to “Users”, select Active users, and then choose “Multi-factor authentication”.
* Now you can see a list of Active users. Click on “Security & Privacy” and choose the “Additional security verification” option.
* Select the user for which you want to enable multi-factor authentication. Click on Enable from the right-side pane.
* After the successful enabling of MFA, a notification will pop up to confirm the successful implementation.

We have discussed multi-factor authentication in Microsoft 365 and the reasons to use it. The steps for enabling MFA for bulk and individual users. It helps in protecting individuals and organizations’ data against different security risks and cyberattacks. After enabling multi-factor authentication, there might be chances of accidental data deletion and some extreme cyber attacks that might affect your critical data. So, to avoid these situations, it’s better to keep a backup of your data. There are manual methods available but they are complex to use. So, we recommend using an automated and secure [**SysTools Office 365 Backup & Restore**](https://www.systoolsgroup.com/office365-backup//) software.

### Follow the Software Steps

1. Download and install the software. Launch the software.
1. Select the source platform as “Office 365” and the destination as “Outlook”.
1. Select the categories that you want to back up from the workload section menu. Use a date filter option to migrate data of a specific time.
1. Enter the source admin email and application ID and validate the required permissions. Click next.
1. Enter the required details for the destination platform. Click on validate. It will validate the required permissions. Click Next.
1. Add users using import, fetch, and download templates. The users are fetched successfully. Map source and destination users. Users can also set priority for migration.
1. Now, validate permissions for source and destination users after permissions are validated. Click on “Start Backup” to initiate the process.

#### Conclusion
The article covers the MFA in Microsoft 365 and its advantages. This guide will give you a proper understanding of how to implement and manage Multi-Factor Authentication. It helps you secure your data against various security risks and cyberattacks.