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Starting with Microsoft Edge version 157, Microsoft plans to retire Edge’s legacy direct-WAM sign-in implementation on Windows and move the remaining browser profiles onto its OneAuth authentication library. Windows Web Account Manager (WAM) itself is not being retired. According to Microsoft 365 Message Center item MC1490911, the General Availability rollout for Worldwide and GCC is expected to begin and complete in early November 2026. That is a planned schedule, so check your own Message Center for the current status before acting on it.

What Edge version 157 changes

Edge on Windows currently has two ways that a profile can handle sign-in: the legacy direct-WAM implementation and the newer OneAuth library. The Message Center notice says that from version 157, Edge will retire the direct-WAM path. Profiles that have not yet moved will be consolidated onto OneAuth, and the legacy fallback path will default to off.

OneAuth is Microsoft’s authentication library used by Edge. The affected areas listed in the notice are browser sign-in, identity, token fetching, single sign-on (SSO), and account synchronization on Edge for Windows. In practice, the change affects how Edge obtains and uses credentials, not the sign-in features themselves.

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What does not change

The notice is explicit that Windows Web Account Manager itself is not being deprecated. In the words of the Message Center item: “Windows Web Account Manager (WAM) itself is not being deprecated; OneAuth continues to use Windows WAM.” The word “legacy” refers only to Edge’s direct-WAM code path. Windows account infrastructure stays in place, and OneAuth continues to rely on it.

Microsoft Learn’s Microsoft Edge identity support and configuration article supplies general background: Edge sign-in supports Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft accounts, and domain accounts, and the account type determines which features, such as sync and SSO, are available. That article provides context for how identity works in Edge. It does not confirm the version 157 schedule, which comes from the Message Center item.

Timing and who may notice it

The rollout is planned for Worldwide and GCC environments. The notice gives early November 2026 as the expected completion window. Microsoft has not published a migration rate, so the expectations below are qualitative rather than measured outcomes.

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  • Most users should transition without noticing anything, according to the notice.
  • A small number of users may need to sign in to Edge again.
  • Some users may see a sign-in action on the profile menu after the update. Support teams should be told about this in advance.
  • Profiles that have not automatically migrated need to be identified by administrators.
  • Organizations that explicitly disabled OneAuth WAM using the switch --disable-features=msOneAuthWAM are called out separately in the notice and should be included in testing.

How to check which library a profile uses

Administrators can determine whether a profile is already on the modern path by inspecting Edge’s built-in diagnostics page. Repeat these steps for each profile you need to assess.

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  1. Open Microsoft Edge with the profile you want to check.
  2. In the address bar, enter edge://signin-internals and press Enter.
  3. Locate the section named Edge Auth Library Information and read the Library value.
  4. If the value is OneAuth, the profile is already on the modern path, and the notice says no action is required for it.
  5. If the value is WAM, the profile still uses the legacy path and needs to be included in your testing before version 157 reaches it.

Testing OneAuth on pilot devices before version 157

For pilot devices running Edge version 155 or later, the notice provides a command-line flag that forces the OneAuth path ahead of the version 157 change. Use it only on test devices, and launch Edge from a command prompt with the flag:

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msedge.exe --enable-features=msForceOneAuthWAM

After launching, confirm that edge://signin-internals reports OneAuth for the profile. Then check the three functions the notice names: browser sign-in, single sign-on, and account synchronization. Report any failures to your support team before rollout, and make sure they know that a sign-in action on the profile menu may appear after updating.

Troubleshooting with diagnostic logs

If a pilot profile does not behave as expected, the notice describes a logging command that adds OneAuth detail to Edge’s log. This is intended for administrator diagnosis, not routine use:

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msedge.exe --enable-features=msForceOneAuthWAM --enable-logging -v=1 --oneauth-log-level=5

By default, the log is written to the following location for each Windows user:

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%LOCALAPPDATA%MicrosoftEdgeUser Datachrome_debug.log

Remove the logging flags once diagnosis is complete, because verbose logs can grow quickly.

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Profile states compared

Profile state shown in edge://signin-internals Status under the Message Center notice Administrator action
OneAuth Already on the modern path No action required for that profile
WAM Still on the legacy direct-WAM path Identify the profile, test the OneAuth transition, and confirm sign-in, SSO, and sync

Limits of the available information

The detailed text of the change is available through an archive that reproduces Message Center item MC1490911, not a Microsoft-hosted page. Treat the dates and steps above as the notice’s content and confirm them in your Microsoft 365 Message Center. The notice does not provide success rates, performance comparisons, or population statistics for the migration.

This change is separate from Edge’s retirement of the Custom Primary Password feature. That is a different password-manager change, and this article does not address it.

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