Office 365: Cloud Identities – Managing Passwords from Office 365 Admin center site

Hi All,

In this article we will discuss regarding configuring password policies and reset password option from Office 365 Admin Center site.

Office 365 Administrator can configure password policies

Configuring Password Policies: We could navigate to Password Policy page by 

Office 365 Admin Center >> Settings (from left navigation) >> Security & Privacy as

Figure 1: Navigation for Password Policy

As we click on “Security & Privacy” we will be redirected to Security & Privacy page as (https://portal.office.com/adminportal/home#/settings/security )

Figure 2: Password policy setting

On this page first element is “Password Policy” and “Edit” option.

Password Policy regulates three options:

1. Number of days before password expire – default setting – 90 days. This value can be set in between minimum 14 days and maximum 730 days.
2. Days before user is notified about expiration – default setting – 14 days. This value can be set in between 1 to 30 days.

If we click on “Edit” option, we will see third option “Set user password to never expire” as on following screen:

Figure 3: Editing Password Policies

Resetting Password: There are two ways available to reset the password

1. Office 365 Administrator will reset password manually
2. Using self-service password reset mechanism – this allows user to reset their own password

Office 365 Administrator will reset password manually : Administrator can navigate to “Reset a Password” setting from – Office 365 Admin Center Site  >> Users > as

Figure 4: “Reset a password” option for Administrator

Once clicked on “Reset a password” link “Reset password” dialog opens as, from where Administrator can select the user of which password need to reset

Figure 5: “Reset password” dialog

Administrator will select the password and click on “Select” button, a dialog box will as

Figure 6: “Reset Password” option for other users than self

Here one important point to note – Administrator can Reset self-password but then user can change their own password. If on “Reset Password” dialog as shown in Figure 5, they select their own user then “Change password” button will appear as in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Change password option for Administrator to change self-password

On click of “Change password” button Administrator will be redirected to change password page (https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/ChangePassword.aspx?BrandContextID=O365&ruO365= ) which is hosted in Azure (please notice the ChangePassword page URL) as

Figure 8: Change Password page by self

Using Self Service password reset mechanism:

1. Using this option user can reset their password themselves rather than contacting Administrator.
2. But this option can be configured only through “Azure AD admin center”.
3. User must have Basic or Premium edition (license) of Azure Active Directory service. In free edition this option is not available.

We can see this option from “Security & Privacy” page (https://portal.office.com/adminportal/home#/settings/security ) only as

Figure 9: Self Service password reset setting in Office 365 Admin Center site

Once Administrator clicked on “Azure AD admin center”, he/she will be redirected to “Azure Active Directory admin center” and there will be an option to “Self-service password reset” as shown in following figure.

Figure 10: Azure Active Directory admin center

Once Administrator clicked on “Enable your users to reset their forgotten password” link as shown in above figure, Admin will be redirected to “Self-Service Password Reset Information” as shown in following two figures: Figure 11 and Figure 12

Figure 11: “Self-Service Password Reset” dialog 1

Figure 12: “Self-Service Password Reset” dialog 2

By clicking on “Configure” button Administrator can enable self-service password reset option either for single user or group of users.

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