Overview of identity, authentication, and authorization in Office 2013

Applies to: Office 2013, Office 365 ProPlus

Summary: Describes Office 2013 authentication, logon types, and how to use registry settings to determine which user identities are offered at user logon.

Audience: IT Professionals

Many of the sections in this article are based on the Identity and Authentication in Office 2013 poster, which you can download from the Download Center.

In the new Office, Office applications are used for both business and non-business activities. A person may use Excel to crunch Q2 widget sales numbers by day and crunch World Cup stats by night, or use Word to write product specifications by day and short stories by night. Because Office is a tool that is used by the same individual in two different roles, the new Office offers two identities with which users can log on to Office 2013:

• A Microsoft account, which most people use for personal business

• An organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft, which most people use when doing work for an organization, such as a business, charity, or school.

The credentials that are used to sign in are recognized as either personal or organizational. That sign-in identity becomes the user's “home realm” and determines which documents the user has access to on SharePoint, OneDrive, or Office 365 Services for a specific session. Each unique sign in identity is saved in a most-recently used list so that it is easy to switch between identities without leaving the Office experience.

For additional convenience, users can choose to mount an online document service to their identities for easy access. For instance, a personal OneDrive can be mounted to an organization identity so that personal documents can be accessed at work or school without ever switching identities. Also, when a user authenticates by using an identity, this authentication is valid for all Office applications, not just the application he or she signed in to.

The very good news is that all of this just works for users, by default, and out of the box.

In this article:

• Office authentication protocols

• Use registry settings to determine which ID types to offer a user at logon

• Use a registry setting to prevent a user from connecting to Office 2013 resources on the Internet

• Delete the Office Profile, and credentials, associated with a removed logon identity

Office authentication protocols

In Office 2010, users are authenticated by using Forms-Based Authentication (FBA), Windows Integrated Authentication (WIA), or Passport Server Side Include (SSI) Authentication, also known as "Passport Tweener." In Office 2013, you can still use FBA or WIA, but instead of SSI, we now use the new open standard, token-based Open Authorization 2.0 (OAuth 2.0). See the following table for an overview of the authentication protocols that you can use with Office, including Office 2013.

Office authentication protocols

Logon types in Office 2013

Two logon types are supported when users sign in to Office 2013, a Microsoft account or an organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft.

Microsoft account (the user’s individual account). This account, formerly known as Microsoft ID, is the credential that users use to authenticate with the Microsoft network and is frequently used for personal or non-business work, such as volunteer work. To create a Microsoft account, a user provides a user name and password, certain demographic information, and “account proofs,” such as an alternative email address or phone number. For more information about the new Microsoft account, see What is a Microsoft account?.

An organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft / Office 365 account ID that is assigned by Microsoft. This account is created for business use. An Office 365 account can be one of three types: a pure Office 365 ID, an Active Directory ID, or an Active Directory Federation Services ID. These are described below:

• Office 365 ID. This ID is created when an admin sets up an Office 365 domain and takes the form <user>@<org>.onmicrosoft.com, for example:

  sally@contoso.onmicrosoft.com

• Organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft that is validated against a user's Active Directory ID. An organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft and validated against Active Directory as follows:

  1. First, a person who has an [on-premise domain]\<user> account attempts to access organization resources.

  2. Next, the resource requests authentication from the user.

  3. Then, the user types in their organization user name and password.

  4. Finally, that user name and password are validated against the organization AD database, the user is authenticated, and is given access to the requested resource.

• An organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft that is validated against a user’s Active Directory Federation Services ID. An organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft and validated against Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) as follows:

  1. First, one person who has an org.onmicrosoft.com attempts to access partner organization resources.

  2. Then, the resource requests authentication from the user.

  3. Next, the user types in their organization user name and password.

  4. Then, that user name and password are validated against the organization AD database.

  5. Finally, that same user name and password are passed to the partner’s federated AD database, the user is authenticated, and is given access to the requested resource.

For on-premises resources, Office 2013 uses the domain\alias user name for authentication. For federated resources, Office 2013 uses the alias@org.onmicrosoft.com user name for authentication.

Use registry settings to determine which ID types to offer a user at logon

By default, when a user attempts to access an Office 2013 resource, Office 2013 includes registry keys that are set to display a user’s Microsoft account ID and the organization ID that is assigned by Microsoft. But, you can change this so that only the Microsoft account is displayed, or their organization ID, or neither. This setting is changed in the computer registry.

To change the Office 2013 logon types offered to the user

1. From Registry Editor, browse to:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\SignIn\SignInOptions

2. Set the value of SignInOptions to one of the values in the following table. The type for the SignInOptions setting is DWORD.

   SignInOptions settings

   If you set SignInOptions to this…	This is what it means	This is the effect on users
   0	Microsoft account or organization ID	Users can sign in and access Office content by using their Microsoft account or one that is assigned by your organization.
   1	Microsoft account only	Users can sign in only by using their Microsoft account.
   2	Organization only	Users can sign in only by using the user ID that is assigned by your organization. This can be either a user ID in Azure Active Directory or a user ID in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) on Windows Server.
   3	AD DS only	Users can sign in only by using a user ID in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) on Windows Server.
   4	None allowed	Users can't sign in with any ID.

   If you disable, or do not configure, the Block sign-in to Office setting, the default setting is 0, which means that users can sign in by using their Microsoft account or one that is assigned by your organization.

Use a registry setting to prevent a user from connecting to Office 2013 resources on the Internet

By default, Office 2013 gives users access to Office 2013 files that reside on the Internet. You can change this setting so that a user can't see those resources.

To allow or prevent a user from connecting to Office 2013 Internet resources

1. From Registry Editor, browse to:

   Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Internet\UseOnlineContent

2. Set the value of UseOnlineContent to one of the following:

   Office 2013 UseOnlineContent values

   UseOnlineContent value	Value type	Description
   0	DWORD	Do not allow user to access Office 2013 resources on the Internet.
   1	DWORD	Allow user to opt in to access of Office 2013 resources on the Internet.
   2	DWORD	(Default) Allows the user to access Office 2013 resources on the Internet.

Delete the Office Profile, and credentials, associated with a removed logon identity

When a user logs into an Office app by using either their Microsoft account ID or their organization ID, a matching Office profile and credentials for that identity are created in the registry. The logon page gives the user the option of removing that identity, just under the “Not user name?” question near the user avatar or photo and name. If users choose to remove one of their identity options, it will be removed from the logon page. But, that corresponding Office profile and credentials will actually remain in the cache for a short time. If this is a security issue, such as when a user is fired from your organization, you should immediately delete that Office profile setting from the registry. To do that, browse to that user's Office profile in the registry, and delete it.

To delete an Office profile that may still be cached

1. From Registry Editor, browse to:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity\Identities

2. Choose the Office profile that you want to delete, and then choose Delete.

3. From the Identity hive, navigate to the Profiles node, choose that same identity, open the shortcut menu (right-click), and then choose Delete.

See also

Roadmap for Office 2013 identity, authentication, and authorization

Security overview for Office 2013
What is a Microsoft account?
OAuth 2.0
Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW