Microsoft is deprecating Basic authentication

Microsoft is disabling Basic authentication, which was used to connect your Microsoft 365 account with email clients like Outlook and Apple Mail. It's an outdated industry standard with increased security risks from attackers capturing user credentials.

The ability to use Basic authentication in Exchange Online is being removed from the following protocols:

• Exchange Active Sync (EAS)
• POP
• IMAP
• Remote PowerShell
• Exchange Web Services (EWS)
• Offline Address Book (OAB)
• Outlook for Windows and Mac

You can still use Outlook on the web to access your email. It won’t be affected by the Basic authentication deprecation.

However, in your email clients, you’ll need to switch to modern authentication. Modern authentication is more secure and supports multi-factor authentication, or MFA, that uses modern methods like one-time text messages and authenticator apps. You can also block the use of Basic authentication by turning on security defaults.

Related steps

• Enable modern authentication for iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices using Apple Mail or Outlook for Mac
• Enable modern authentication for Microsoft Office 2013 on Windows devices
• See Microsoft’s specific recommendations for impacted protocols under “Protocol recommendation.”

More info

• Find out more about the deprecation of Basic authentication from Microsoft.