Using Microsoft Two-Factor Authentication with your Xbox LIVE account

Earlier this week, it was announced that your Microsoft Account Gets More Secure. Every gamertag on Xbox LIVE is backed by a Microsoft Account (MSA), so this is great news for our customers who choose to enable this security feature to help keep their accounts more secure. I’m excited to see this feature enabled and I’ve already done this on my own account.

For those of you who have enabled TFA, you’ll need to make one change to how you interact with your Xbox.

If you’re downloading your profile or you choose not to have your password saved on your console, you will be prompted to enter your “Microsoft account password.” It will look like the screenshot below. Instead of entering your MSA password, you’ll need to enter an App password.

Xbox Password Dialogue

Getting an App password is simple:

  1. Log in to https://account.live.com
  2. Click on “Security info” under “Overview”
  3. Click on “Create a new app password” under “App passwords”
  4. Enter your app password in the password field

That’ll look like this screenshot:

MSID Account Info

 

That’s it! Enjoy your (even more secure) gaming on Xbox LIVE!