Microsoft Edge 157 Will Retire Legacy WAM Sign-In on Windows Next Month

Microsoft is working on a significant sign-in change for Edge on Windows. Starting with Microsoft Edge 157, the browser will retire its legacy direct-WAM sign-in implementation and move all remaining profiles to the OneAuth authentication library.

Edge is finally dropping its legacy WAM sign-in path

The retirement is schedule to kick off in November 2026, with Microsoft saying that most users will move to OneAuth without noticing anything. However, a small number of users may be asked to sign in to their Edge profile again after updating to version 157.

The change was announced through Microsoft 365 Admin Center message MC1490911 and primarily affects organizations and users whose Edge profiles have not yet automatically migrated to OneAuth. It also affects organizations that have explicitly disabled OneAuth WAM using the –disable-features=msOneAuthWAM flag.

Microsoft says the move is designed to standardize authentication across Microsoft 365 applications, simplify platform support, remove dual authentication code paths, and improve diagnostic and recovery capabilities.

That said, it should be noted that Windows Web Account Manager itself is not being deprecated. OneAuth continues to use Windows WAM internally, meaning Microsoft is retiring Edge’s direct legacy implementation rather than removing WAM from Windows altogether.

Admins can check whether profiles have already migrated by opening edge://signin-internals and looking under Edge Auth Library Information > Library. If it shows OneAuth, nothing needs to be done. If it shows WAM, the profile is still using the legacy path.

Microsoft also recommends testing the transition before Edge 157 arrives. On Edge 155 or later, admins can force OneAuth with msedge.exe –enable-features=msForceOneAuthWAM and then verify sign-in, Single Sign-On and account synchronization.

Let’s not forget that Microsoft Edge is also getting new features alongside the aforementioned authentication changes. Microsoft recently added the ability to translate entire PDFs into new copies, while its built-in AI tool can help fix browser problems. Edge is also getting new tools focused on web performance and AI agents.