How to Force Users to Entra-Register Their Devices: A Practical Guide

In today’s cloud-driven workplace, securing corporate data across every device—whether company-owned or personal—is essential. Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure Active Directory) provides a robust way to establish device trust, but one common challenge remains: how do you force users to register their devices?

In this guide, we’ll walk through why device registration is so important, and the best ways to enforce it using Conditional Access, Intune, and passwordless authentication.

Why Device Registration Matters

When a device is registered in Microsoft Entra, it becomes part of your organization’s trusted ecosystem. This allows you to:

• Apply Conditional Access policies (block untrusted devices).
• Enforce compliance with security standards.
• Strengthen your Zero Trust strategy.

⚠️ Risk: If you leave defaults open, any user can register any device. A compromised account could add rogue devices and gain access to sensitive resources.

Enforce Registration with Conditional Access

The most effective approach is Conditional Access (CA) policies. With CA, you can:

• Require devices to be registered or compliant before accessing apps.
• Use Microsoft’s Zero Trust policy templates to simplify setup.
• Block access to Office 365 apps until the device is properly registered.

This ensures that no unmanaged device can slip through without being registered.

Intune for BYOD Scenarios

Not every organization wants to fully enroll personal devices into Intune. The good news: you don’t have to.

• Configure Intune settings to require users to register devices before accessing corporate data.
• Pair this with security agents (like Microsoft Defender) to maintain compliance without heavy enrollment.

This strikes a balance between security and user flexibility.

Use Passwordless Sign-In to Enforce Registration

Another clever enforcement method: passwordless authentication.

Here’s how it works:

• Enable passwordless sign-in (via Microsoft Authenticator).
• Configure it to work only on registered devices.
• Use Authentication Strength policies to block legacy sign-in methods.

Result: users have no choice but to register their device before they can log in.

Streamline with Autopilot & Enrollment Prompts

For Windows devices, Windows Autopilot simplifies the process:

• During device setup, require users to join Entra ID.
• Control which groups are allowed to register devices.
• Combine this with Conditional Access so that apps like Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint force device registration at first use.

Step-by-Step Enforcement Strategy

1. Restrict default join permissions in Entra.
2. Create a Conditional Access policy requiring registered/compliant devices.
3. Enable passwordless authentication tied to registered devices.
4. Fine-tune Intune for BYOD compliance.
5. Monitor logs to track enforcement success.
6. Educate users with clear onboarding instructions.

Real-World Example

Imagine an employee tries to open Outlook on their personal phone:

• Without policies, they could access email with no registration.
• With Conditional Access enforced, Outlook blocks sign-in until the device is registered in Entra.
• Once registered, the device is compliant, and access is granted securely.

Final Thoughts

Forcing users to register their devices in Microsoft Entra isn’t just a checkbox exercise—it’s a cornerstone of Zero Trust security. By combining Conditional Access, Intune, and passwordless authentication, you can make sure that every device touching your data is trusted, secure, and compliant.

🔐 Ready to get started? Lock down your environment today by reviewing your Conditional Access settings in the Entra portal.