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Configuring two-factor authentication on an Exchange account

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Find out how to configure two-factor authentication on an Exchange account

Objective

To increase the security of your Exchange account, you can enable two-factor authentication (2FA). Each time you log in to OWA (Outlook Web App) webmail, you then enter a random code in addition to your password. This code is generated by a one-time password (OTP) app installed on your smartphone or tablet.

Warning

Two-factor authentication only protects access to OWA webmail. It does not apply to email clients (Outlook, Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) or to mobile devices: these connections (ActiveSync, EWS, IMAP, POP, etc.) remain protected by the account password alone. We therefore recommend choosing a strong password.

This guide explains how to enable two-factor authentication on your Exchange account.

Requirements

Info

OTP mobile applications

You can choose from a number of OTP applications. Here are two examples that are free to use.

  • For Android: Free OTP
  • For iOS: OTP Auth

OVHcloud Control Panel Access

  • Direct link:
  • Navigation path: Web Cloud > Exchange > Select your platform

Instructions

First configuration

Step 1: Enable two-factor authentication on the platform

For the initial configuration, you need to enable two-factor authentication on the Exchange service before enabling it on an account.

Switch to the Security tab.

  1. Under "Two-factor authentication", click on Enabled.
  2. To finish, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Save changes.

Step 2: Enable two-factor authentication on an account

After enabling two-factor authentication on the Exchange service, you can then enable it on each one of your accounts.

Go to the Email accounts tab and click on ... to the right of the account on which you wish to enable two-factor authentication, then click on Enable two-factor authentication.

2fa-exchange

To link the Exchange account to your OTP app, log in to your webmail.

At the first attempt to log in, a QR code will appear. Use your OTP app to scan it, then enter the code that the app generates to log in.

2fa-exchange

When you next log in, webmail will only ask for the code generated by the app.

Disabling two-factor authentication

You can disable two-factor authentication on your account in three ways.

From the Email accounts tab, click on ... to the right of the account on which two-factor authentication is already enabled.

2fa-exchange

Select the option that you need according to the table below:

No.PurposeDescription
1."Disable two-factor authentication"Suspends two-factor authentication for a defined number of hours. Once the time period has passed, the two-factor authentication will be reactivated.
For example: a user has forgotten their phone and cannot authenticate themselves with the OTP app.
2."Reset two-factor authentication"Resets the QR code requested when you first log in to webmail.
For example: a user has changed phones and needs to reconfigure their OTP application.
3."Remove two-factor authentication"Fully removes two-factor authentication from the account.

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