Adding your Preferred Authenticator App

Owned by Christopher Mueller
Last updated: Jul 01, 2024 by Naa Amerley Lokko
4 min read

PCCC recommends adding multiple methods of authentication to your account, with options including:

You must have access to one of these methods when you sign in.

You may already own an authenticator app and would like to use that preferred app to secure your student account. These instructions go through how you would connect your preferred authenticator app to your PCCC account.

Instructions

Step 1. Check which Authenticator app you are using

Examples of reliable authenticator apps and their developers include:

  • Microsoft Authenticator (Microsoft Corporation)

    • There are separate set up instructions for this authentication method.

  • Okta Verify (Okta, Inc.)

  • Google Authenticator (Google)

  • Duo Mobile (Duo Security LLC)

  • Twilio Authy (Authy Inc.)

Be sure that the preferred authenticator app you are using is from a trusted source. You can check for this by going to the app store and checking for the company (or developer) that published and owns the app. There are a lot of fake authenticator apps out there, so please be careful when choosing them. Please do not download the first one you see without checking it first, especially if it is an ad.

Step 2. Add your PCCC account to the App

On your desktop, visit https://aka.ms/mysecurityinfo to access the “Security info” settings for your PCCC account.

Click Add sign-in method.

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In the “Add a method” pop-up window, click the down arrow and select Authenticator app. Then, click Add.

prefAuth1.png

 

On the next page titled “Microsoft Authenticator”, click the link at the bottom that says, “I want to use a different authenticator app”.

 

After the screen “Set up your account” comes up, please go to your preferred authenticator app on your smartphone or other mobile device and add an account using the option that lets you scan a QR code. Steps for this may vary between different authenticator apps.

If your app has the option, please choose “Organization” or “Work or school account” as the type or kind of account you are adding. If this is not an option, please add an account and choose the option that lets you scan a QR code. Consult the app owner’s instructions if you need assistance with setting up your preferred app.

When you are ready to scan a QR code through the authenticator app, click Next.

 

Using the preferred authentication app, scan the QR code on your screen. After scanning it (if you are prompted to, please save the account on the app), click Next.

 

In the dashboard of your authenticator app, find the account connected to your PCCC account and the code shown with it. Enter the code into the blank space on your screen. Click Next when you’re done.

 

Step 3: Set your default sign-in method

To ensure that you are prompted to sign in using your authentication of choice click the change link next to the Default sign-in method. If it isn’t set, it will say Set default sign-in method instead.

 

Or

 

Select your preferred method of authentication. To choose your preferred authentication app, please choose one of the two options as shown in the picture below:

  1. App based authentication - notification: this option enables the app to send you a notification to confirm if it is you who is signing in or not when trying to sign into your account.

  2. App based authentication or hardware token - code: this option lets you physically type in the code that shows under your PCCC account in your authentication app when you are trying to sign in. You may need to click into it to see the code for some apps.

After selecting one, click Confirm.