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What Is SSPR? 

It is a frigid February morning. The time is approximately 6:30 AM. Your morning cup of joe is interrupted by an urgent call from your system administrator Jonathan. He informs you about a suspicious email incident over the weekend that potentially impacted numerous employees. He suggests resetting all passwords to reduce any potential impact after handling most of the preliminary measures. Jonathan is thinking about enabling Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) to maximize time and efficiency. SSPR allows organizations to members to reset their own password. In this blog we will cover a useful feature that can be enabled in your Microsoft Entra Admin Center. Naturally, this blog assumes that you have not enabled this feature as you are just getting started. However, I do suggest looking into the links below for a deeper dive. 

Navigating to Microsoft Entra Admin Center 

First, before beginning to enable this feature, make sure to have your admin credentials handy. You must have the appropriate administrative role and access. Lastly, if you want to enable this policy for on-premises integration. You will need to set up a sync engine to be connected to your account. Please see the following link to learn more: Enable Microsoft Entra password writeback – Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn. Let us continue to the login page. 

 Sign In 

1. Navigate to the following website https://entra.microsoft.com.


2. Using your administrative credentials type in your “Username and Password.” 


3. If you have forgotten your password, click on “Forgot my password” then follow the prompts accordingly. 


4. You will be prompted to authenticate using your phone via the “Microsoft Authentication app.” 

After you sign in, you’ll arrive at the Microsoft Entra Admin Center Home directory. From there, we’ll guide you through the process of enabling the feature, one step at a time. 

Enabling SSPR 

1. In the home screen, select the “Protection” tab in the left-hand menu, then click “Password reset.” 


2. The first menu item is “Properties” on the right side you will see “Self-service password reset enabled.” 


3. Select between three options: 
   
   
   
   1. None: No users within the organization selected for reset (this is selected by default if never enabled).
   
   
   2. Selected: Select the Microsoft groups within your organization to apply for self-reset.
   
   
   3. All: Apply for all users within the organizations for self-reset.
   
   
   
   


4. Select one then click the “Save” button. 

Now that SSPR is enabled, you will see “Forgot my password” based on the option you selected. If all options were chosen, all members would see it; otherwise, it will be visible according to the groups you specified. This allows the Systems admin to send just one email to reset their passwords. 

Conclusion 

Moving forward, this policy aims to enhance self-sufficiency and improve security measures. By enabling Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR), organizations can streamline password management, lighten IT support loads, and boost security. Users can reset their passwords quickly and securely keeps productivity high and mitigates risks associated with forgotten credentials. Monitor its effectiveness and adjust settings as needed to meet your organization’s unique needs and security standards. 

Hyperlinks  

• License self-service password reset – Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn 


• Enable Microsoft Entra password writeback – Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn 


• Self-service password reset deep dive – Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn 


• Microsoft Entra Admin Center – Secure, Protect, & Manage | Microsoft Community Hub