Office 365 just changed the way you set up App Passwords

If you use Office 365, you may have noticed that Microsoft recently changed the settings layout within the Office 365 Portal. This means that there is a new path for creating and updating app passwords. If you aren’t sure what app passwords are, your organization probably isn’t using them. App passwords are used for Mutli-Factor Authentication within Office 365 to add a second level of security to your Office 365 files.

If you're preparing to use or you're already using Multi-Factor Authentication for Office 365, then this is for you. To get started, click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the Office 365 portal to access the new settings menu.

The picture on the left shows the old settings drop down menu in Office 365 while the picture on the right shows the new settings menu. Looks nice right? To access your Office 365 settings, click on the Office 365 link under the My app settings header.

The next screen will look familiar, but the location for navigating to app passwords has changed. Select the Security & Privacy tab and choose Additional Security Verification. Then click on the link that says "Update your phone numbers used for account security."

From here, the process is exactly the same as before. On the next page, select app passwords at the top (it looks like a header, but it's actually a link).

Finally, click Create.

If you're not sure if you are using app passwords correctly, here are a few notes:

1. Make sure to use one app password per app. Don't save the password! These are meant to give one-time access to one app.
2. Name each app password well. Since you only should be using one password per app, you want to make sure you remember which apps have passwords.
3. It's worth saying a second time: don't save the password!