Microsoft is rolling out a new sign-in screen for more than a billion consumers that access services like Outlook, Windows, Xbox, Microsoft 365, and more. The updated authentication screen is based on Microsoft’s Fluent 2 design language and even includes a dark mode with Xbox colors.
The entire authentication process for Microsoft accounts has been improved as part of this redesign, with a bigger emphasis on passwordless authentication. “Our new UX is optimized for a passwordless and passkey-first experience,” says Robin Goldstein, partner director of product management for Microsoft Identity. “We’ve reduced the number of concepts per screen to lower cognitive load and speed up the authentication process, plus re-ordered some steps to logically flow better.”
The more simplified design also includes light and dark themes, which are enabled automatically based on your device configuration. “The first place to see this will be on Gaming apps,” says Goldstein. “Other consumer apps will support Dark Mode in the future.”
Xbox users will already start to see this new sign-in experience across the web and on mobile, and the full updates to the authentication screen will roll out throughout March and April. Web and mobile apps will get the new user experience first, followed by Windows apps.
This new design is limited to consumer profiles, so there will be no changes to Microsoft Entra work and school accounts. “However, the learnings from these improvements give my team valuable insights for updating the default Microsoft Entra and Microsoft Entra External ID account experiences in the future, including the common sign-in screen for apps that support authentication via both Microsoft accounts and Microsoft Entra accounts,” says Goldstein.
This new sign-in UI is probably related to Microsoft’s plans to automatically keep you signed into to an account. The software giant sent notifications to Outlook.com users about a potential account change in February, but Microsoft then revealed this was a mistake and edited a Microsoft support article referencing keeping accounts signed in automatically unless you sign out or use private browsing. We’re still waiting to hear when these additional sign-in changes will roll out.
