Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Microsoft Entra ID
open-in-new
<p>Microsoft Entra ID (formerly known as Microsoft Azure Active Directory or Azure AD) is a <a href="/facts/Cloud_computing/guhg0FGV">cloud-based</a> <a href="/facts/Identity_and_access_management/D4Ukft0T">identity and access management</a> (IAM) solution. It is a directory and identity management service that operates in the cloud and offers authentication and authorization services to various <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> services, such as <a href="/facts/Microsoft_365/RuF4C8BL">Microsoft 365</a>, <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Dynamics_365/hnXF5NEj">Dynamics 365</a>, <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Azure/CCnIHTHd">Microsoft Azure</a> and third-party services. Entra ID provides users with <a href="/facts/Single_sign-on/qqqLoB8h">single sign-on</a> experience, called "work or school accounts", regardless of whether their applications are cloud-based or on-premises. </p><p>Entra ID offers various authentication methods, including <a href="/facts/Password-based_cryptography/7beJl98I">password-based</a>, <a href="/facts/Multi-factor_authentication/186gpx8R">multi-factor</a>, <a href="/facts/Smart_card/K7b9lowS">smart card</a>, and <a href="/facts/Certificate-based_encryption/TQDoHLjx">certificate-based</a> authentication. It also includes several security features, such as <a href="/facts/Conditional_access/9frzxyr4">conditional access</a> policies, <a href="/facts/Risk-based_authentication/FWM2b8eV">risk-based authentication</a>, and identity protection. </p><p>On July 11, 2023, Microsoft announced the renaming of Azure AD to <i>Microsoft Entra ID</i> to improve consistency with other Microsoft cloud products. The name change took place on July 15, 2023. </p>