Microsoft is retiring basic authentication for SMTP, here's what it means for your print and scan devices

Microsoft has been phasing out basic authentication, the old username-and-password method, for SMTP AUTH in Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. Everyone is being moved to modern authentication (OAuth2) instead.

This matters for print and scan devices because many MFPs, scanners and franking machines are configured to send email, for scan-to-email, alerts or reports, via SMTP using a stored username and password. That's exactly the kind of basic authentication being retired.

Once basic authentication is switched off, any device still using the old method will simply stop being able to send email. Quietly, with nothing to see on your end until someone notices scan-to-email has stopped working.

The practical takeaway: if your printers or scanners send email through a Microsoft 365 account, it's worth checking now whether that connection uses basic or modern authentication, rather than finding out in December 2026 when it stops working.